Viewfinder: Project Sticker Shock

Armed with green stickers, nearly a dozen locals embarked on their latest mission: Project Sticker Shock.

It's a nationwide endeavour aimed at reducing underage drinking by raising awareness within the 21+ crowd that providing alcohol to minors is illegal and comes with stiff penalties. If convicted of providing alcohol to underage drinkers, a person could stand to spend up to a year in jail and/or pay a $2,500 if convicted under Rhode Island law.

The coalition hopes to curtail adults providing children with alcohol by placing their stickers, neon green that read "Know the Law; Providing Alcohol to a Minor is Illegal," on multipacks of alcohol. According to research, minors typically drink alcohol from larger packs, such as 12-packs and 30-racks. Thursday morning, they brought their crusade to Wickford Package Store and Kingstown Liquor Mart to raise awareness by plastering stickers on every multipack they could find.

"In North Kingstown, we found through our health and wellness surveys that youths are accessing alcohol through social accesses," said Robin Monica member of the coalition. "They're not at places like Wickford Package Store buying alcohol."

Mike Sherman, owner of Wickford Package Store, agrees that the real problem has been differentiating between adults buying for themselves and/or other adults and those buying for kids. In a town like North Kingstown, he says it's easy to spot the minors if they ever try to purchase it on their own.

"Being a small town, we kind of know who's who," Sherman said.

The sticker brigade consisted of North Kingstown High School students, partners Toray Plastics, Town Manager Michael Embury, Acting Police Chief Thomas Mulligan and Student Resource Officer John Urban.