FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — State inspections have found Indiana's bars, restaurants and liquor stores doing a much better job of not selling alcohol to underaged Hoosiers.
That improvement followed adoption a much-ridiculed law requiring carry-out alcohol customers to show identification regardless of their age that has since been loosened up.
State Excise Police officers conducted more than 5,000 inspections from Jan. 1 through June 30 during which people ages 18 to 20 accompany officers and try to buy alcohol. They found violations by 8.8 percent of bars and restaurants and 4.3 percent for liquor stores — down from more than 40 percent in 2009.
Excise Police Officer Travis Thickstun tells The Journal Gazette that the tougher ID requirements and a law mandating certified serving training helped improve compliance.
