Take lesson from sting

We would be saddened if one local bar had been cited for serving alcohol to persons under the legal drinking age. We would be shocked to learn of two or three such establishments.

But we are absolutely aghast to learn of five local bars serving beer to an underage police informant. According to reports, they did so without so much as checking his ID.

We understand bartenders are busy on Friday nights, and spirits were likely high on the night of Friday, Jan. 22, in the afterglow of President Obama's visit to Lorain County. But other employees should have checked IDs at the door to prevent entrance to underage patrons.

The national legal drinking age has been 21 since 1984, so the bar owners and bartenders should have no question about whom they can legally serve. And that age not determined arbitrarily, but as the result of extensive study on the effects of alcohol on different age groups.

Research indicates the human brain continues to develop into a person's early 20s, and exposure of the developing brain to alcohol may have long-lasting effects on intellectual capabilities. Other studies have found for each year the start of alcohol drinking is delayed, the risk of later alcohol dependence is reduced by 14 percent.

Young people are also more susceptible to alcohol-induced impairment of their driving skills. As a result, drinking drivers aged 16 to 20 are twice as likely to be involved in a fatal crash as drinking drivers age 21 or older.

Most of the bar owners contacted by the News-Times were contrite following the sting operation, with at least one considering possible consequences for the bartender involved. One, however, Ward 3 councilmember Joe Gambish, has vowed to fight his citation, saying the evidence against him is circumstantial.

That is Gambish's right. And if the police and the Ohio Department of Public Safety Division of Liquor Control have evidence to present, Gambish will see it at his hearing.

But hearings and employment consequences aside, we would hope the bar owners understand the police and ODPS conducted this sting operation based on a perception of a problem in town. That they caught five establishments in one night demonstrates how big that problem is.

We would hope this serves as a reminder to bar owners to make sure employees are following the law regarding underage drinking. We would hope the citations would serve as a wakeup call to these and other bar owners to educate their employees.