PUB DEF

Gov. Matt Blunt is putting more money in the pot to fight underage drinking.

The announcement came today that the Department of Public Safety was awarded more than $188,000 to combat underage drinking across Missouri.

According to a press release from Blunt’s office today, the grants would go to local Missouri law enforcement as part of the federal Enforcement of Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Program, utilized by police, sheriffs and university safety departments augmenting officers’ regular pay for doing compliance checks at places that sell alcohol, conducting parent and community education on the “consequences of hosting alcohol parties,” safe party dispersals, driving-while-intoxicated checkpoints that target youths and working special events like county fairs or festivals.

Proponents of the measure say this will “boost the effectiveness” of field training on methods combating underage drinking.

EUDL funds are appropriated by Congress and awarded to states by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). In Missouri, the Department of Public Safety is the designated state agency to receive and administer EUDL funding.