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Welcome to the Tampa Alcohol Coalition

Are You Concerned About Underage Drinking and Impaired Driving?
Tampa Alcohol Coalition's (TAC) mission is to prevent underage drinking and impaired driving.TAC is a subcommittee of the Hillsborough County Anti Drug Alliance (HCADA). Get involved- come to a TAC meeting to learn more about underage drinking, impaired driving, responsible vendor training, and safe rides. Network with other concerned citizens- including parents, students, university administrators, business owners and law enforcement officers. Go to Events for TAC monthly meeting dates, locations and times. To contact TAC, click here.

Learn more about your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and the new "Watch Your BAC" app! If you go out and have a few drinks, make sure you use a designated driver or call for a safe ride. Don't be that DUI Guy- call a safe ride.

Tow to Go
The Auto Club Group and Bud Light provide the Tow to Go service to discourage an intoxicated driver from getting behind the wheel and risking the lives and safety of other motorists. Not only does Tow to Go remove the intoxicated driver—it also enables AAA and Bud Light to remind the public to always choose a designated driver for a safe ride home.

Get a Safe Ride- No Excuses!

The holiday season is here! Many celebrate with alcoholic beverages but we all need to plan ahead. Safe transportation options abound: Uber. Lyft, taxi cabs, AAA Tow To Go and sober designated drivers. There is no excuse for impaired driving. Don't risk DUI arrest or even worse an alcohol related crash. Have fun this holiday season but stay safe.

Lightning Foundation Community Hero Award
Linda Unfried, Founder and President of MADD Hillsborough was awarded the Lightning Community Hero Award on November 14, 2013, for her tireless work over the past 30 years to prevent DUI and impaired driving crashes and fatalities. Linda's passion to reduce DUI and underage drinking began when her beloved sister Josie was killed by an underage drunk driver in 1983. See the Lightning video about Linda's work to stop drunk driving. Linda generously gave $30,000 of her award to MADD and $20,000 to HCADA/TAC for preventing underage drinking in Hillsborough County middle schools. Thanks to Linda Unfried and the Lightning Foundation for helping prevent DUI and underage drinking in our community!

Upcoming TAC Meetings 2018
Our next meetings will be held on March 21 and April 18. No meeting in February. All meetings are held at the Tampa Police Department at 9330 N. 30th Street, at 3:00 PM

Florida Traffic Crash Facts 2015 Florida traffic crash fatalities surged 17.8% in 2015 compared to 2014. Alcohol related fatalities went up 7%. Hillsborough County is #1 in alcohol related crashes, injuries and fatalities. What can be done to bring these numbers down? Join Tampa Alcohol Coalition and help us fight underage drinking and impiared driving!

HCSO SAVE Award
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office annual SAVE responsible vendor recognition was awarded in July 2016 to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa (media release) for their responsible vendor practices and work to reduce DUI and underage drinking in 2015. For the second time in five years, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa has received the prestigious S.A.V.E. Award (Sheriff’s Alcohol Vendor Enforcement) from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.The award was presented to the property for their continued efforts in being a responsible vendor on the consumption of alcohol. The Sheriff’s Office singled out the property’s effort to train more than 455 of its staff and personnel about the dangers of over serving patrons.

Did you know that 14 people die in Florida every day from an opioid drug overdose?
Prescription drug overdose deaths are heading back up. Heroin overdoses are surging. Here is an update from the latest FDLE Medical Examiners Report on Drugs Indentified in Deceased Persons 2015: Total drug related deaths are up 13.9% compared to 2014. 2,530 people died of drug overdose with at least one prescription drug in their system. Need help with prescription drug or heroin abuse? Call a treatment agency: DACCO, Phoenix House or ACTS. Or call this SAMHSA national helpline for a treatment agency near you:

2017 Florida Alcohol Legislation
SB 106 and HB 81 are bills that would allow hard liquor (spirits) sales in grocery/ convenience stores. Store clerks under the age of 18 could sell spirits if "supervised" by a person who is 18 or older. This would be a major change in Florida's alcohol laws and could put minors at risk. Current law allows hard liquor package sales only in separate liquor stores. We feel that this law helps protect the health, safety and welfare of children and families. Write to your FL House Representative or Senator to ask them to oppose allowing hard liquor sales in grocery/ convenience stores. WFLA story: Local community activist Teresa Miller opposes spirits sales in grocery stores

Open House Party Law
Click here for more information about Florida's open house party law. Parents and other adults need to be aware that it is against the law to allow underage drinking parties in Florida!

Profile of Alcohol and Drug Indicators for Hillsborough County
University of South Florida researchers Dr. Kathleen Moore and Dr. Scott Young conducted a community substance abuse assessment of Hillsborough County for the Hillsborough County Anti Drug Alliance.  Check out the latest edition of our Hillsborough County Profile of Alcohol and Drug Indicators 2017

Florida Alcohol Laws
Are you up to date on Florida's alcohol laws? Click here for the current Florida alcoholic beverage statutes.  Do you know the penalties for driving under the influence in Florida? Click here for a link to Florida DUI laws Did you know Florida is one of only 2 states that does not have a law forbidding alcohol service or sales to a person who is obviously intoxicated? This is a huge gap in Florida alcohol laws. Here is a resource on model laws to prevent alcohol sales to intoxicated persons:

TAC on WMNF
http://wmnf.org/news/2009/11?page=2 (scroll down the page to see)

Gasparilla Update

• Gasparilla 2016 Gasparilla 2016 ends with few arrests
• Gasparilla 2013- Arrests and Citations Continue to Go Down
• Gasparilla 2012- New Alcohol Policies
• Gasparilla to Test Open Contaner Policy
• Pepin webpage on Gasparilla Responsibility campaign
• WTSP news story on Gasparilla 2012 alcohol rules

DUI Education: The Megan Napier Foundation http://themeagannapierfoundation.com/

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Going Out to Party? Find a Sober Ride!
Don't become a statistic. Designate a driver or call a cab if you drink alcoholic beverages while you are out on the town. AAA provides Tow to Go; call 1-800-AAA-HELP(222-4357). Tow to Go will provide you a ride and your car will be towed safely home on holidays..Uber is another option- use the app!

Has your drinking led to health, legal, social or financial problems?
If you want to stop drinking, there is a world of help and support available. Call Alcoholics Anonymous at 813-933-9123 or go to the website for meeting times/ locations in the Tampa area: Tri-County Central Office of Alcoholics Anonymous

Why age 21?
The Amethyst Initiative advocates for opening a debate about the legal drinking age. A group  130 college presidents have signed on to this initiative, because they say the 21 drinking age "is not working". The Initiative suggests that lowering the drinking age might help reduce high risk drinking  and encourage "more responsible" drinking by persons under the age of 21. But, research shows that when the drinking age was lowered to 18 years old in many states in the 70's, there was an increase in teen binge drinking and a jump in alcohol related injuries and fatalities in the 16 to 20 year old age group. Then in the 1980's, when the age was increased to 21, binge drinking and alcohol-related crash rates fell. TAC supports the minimum drinking age of 21 because it saves lives. The Amethyst Initiative and the resulting media coverage gives coalitions a great opportunity to advocate for more effective science-based strategies to prevent high-risk drinking.

• Age 21 Minimum Drinking Age Quick Stats- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• An Examination of the Criticisms of the Minimum Legal Drinking Age 21 Laws in the United States from a Traffic-Safety Perspective (This paper summarizes the research  that supports the 21 drinking age and offers responses to common arguments against the 21 MLDA)

• Insurance Institute for Highway Safety- Reducing Alcohol Related Fatalities

• MADD web site: Why age 21

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office "BATmobile" Breath Testing vehicle is ready for action at the June 20, 2008 DUI checkpoint hosted by Tampa Police Department on the Courtney Campbell Causeway. See Events for photos from the July 4th DUI Checkpoint in Tampa.HCSO DUI Squad Calendar for dates of upcoming DUI checkpoints and saturations.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office S.A.V.E. program- working with alcohol vendors to save lives. The Sheriff collects information (last drink surveys) from persons arrested for DUI regarding the source of their alcohol. The Sheriff's Alcohol Vendor Enforcement (SAVE) program works with vendors who have been identified through the last drink surveys and compliance checks, and offesr them an educational program to help prevent DUI and underage drinking in alcohol establishments. For more information on the Sheriff's SAVE program please go to HCSO SAVE Program

Alcohol and the Teen Brain                                                                           
According to the New York Times article The Grim Neurology of Teenage Drinking, a young person's brain is still developing into the early twenties, and underage drinking can adversely affect the developing brain. "There is no doubt about it now: there are long-term cognitive consequences to excessive drinking of alcohol in adolescence," said Aaron White, an assistant research professor in the psychiatry department at Duke University. For more information on alcohol's effects on the brain and underage drinking research, Dr. White is a member of a NIAAA team that researches underage drinking. NIAAA Underage Drinking Research Initiative.

Alcohol Environment
One approach for reducing alcohol and other drug problems is community-based prevention programs. These programs focus on changing the environment in which a person consumes alcohol rather than the behavior of the individual drinker. Increasing enforcement of underage drinking laws, restricting cheap and free drink specials and changing the bar entrance age to 21 and up are all effective ways to change the alcohol environment and reduce youth access to alcohol. Community Coalitions that focus on underage drinking can make a big impact on changing the alcohol environment.

Florida Alcohol Laws
Florida alcohol laws are not as strict as other states. In Florida, 18 year olds can patronize and work in bars. There are no restrictions on "drink specials" such as "Kill the Keg" and Ladies Drink Free". Bars can offer drinking games such as "beer pong". Florida is one of only 3 states in the US that do not have a criminal law against serving obviously intoxicated persons. Florida's dram shop law is weak; it states that bar employees who serve obviously intoxicated persons over age 21 are not civilly liable (unless the intoxicated person is a habitual drunkard).Learn more about Florida Alcohol Policy and policy resources for coalitions, click on the TAC Alcohol Policy Page.

Report underage drinking parties, bars that allow underage drinking and alcohol sales to minors:
HCSO CrimeStoppers Tips Line: 1-800-873-TIPS (for Hillsborough County) Or click here to report an anonymous tip line

Tragic End to the Life of a Public Servant

Early in the morning on Wednesday, August 15, 2007, Sergeant Ronald Harrison, supervisor of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office 3 D DUI squad was shot and killed after completing a successful DUI checkpoint in Brandon. The man who murdered Sgt. Harrison had a high blood alcohol level, according to the medical examiner report. Sergeant Harrison served the Sheriff's Office for more than 27 years, and was active on several boards and community groups, including the Tampa Alcohol Coalition. He dedicated his life to public safety. Ron Harrison will be greatly missed. Read the reflections about Sgt. Ron Harrison on his Officer Down Memorial Page

Do you drink too much? Find out by taking the quiz below. Click on "Is my drinking risky?"

Tampa Alcohol Coalition is a subcommittee of the Hillsborough County Anti Drug Alliance.

Do you have questions about Tampa Alcohol Coalition or comments on this website? Contact er.snelling@verizon.net