September 1, 2026 |Health & Wellness, News, Office of MA State Treasurer, State of MA

As Fall Term Begins, Treasurer Goldberg and ABCC Launch “Operation Safe Campus”

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An Effort to Reduce Alcohol-Related Harms Among College Students

From the Office of State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg: The Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC), under the direction of State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, has launched Operation Safe Campus. The annual program is designed to target underage drinking on college campuses and in surrounding communities to keep alcoholic beverages out of the hands of underage students and prevent tragedies. This initiative begins each year when students return to colleges and universities throughout Massachusetts.
 
“As we begin the new school year, Operation Safe Campus reminds college students, servers and sellers alike of the real risks of underage drinking,” said State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, who oversees the ABCC. “We want to increase awareness and promote responsible choices, to protect kids and their families from experiencing serious consequences.”
 
The enforcement efforts focus primarily on liquor stores in college communities where underage individuals often attempt to purchase alcoholic beverages with false identification, have adults buy alcoholic beverages for them, or have it delivered by way of delivery apps. Additionally, efforts focus on bars that have been known to sell or deliver alcoholic beverages to underage individuals.
 
Operation Safe Campus is designed to protect student safety, as underage drinking increases the risk of accidents, injuries, violence, impaired driving, and other harms. Consistent enforcement reinforces that minimum-age laws exist to reduce these preventable harms, not just to individual students, but to their families, schools, and greater communities.
 
The program focuses on front-line prevention, with investigators often calling the underage person’s parents when violations occur. ABCC officials say that most parents are unaware that their children are involved in the use of alcohol, and that intervention is a powerful tool toward family involvement in addressing the problem of underage drinking.
 
“Our goal with Operation Safe Campus is to protect college students in the Commonwealth as well as those in our communities and to draw attention to the dangers of underage drinking,” said Jean Lorizio, chairperson of the ABCC. “We hope to keep alcoholic beverages out of the hands of underage people and to shine a spotlight on the potentially devastating consequences that drinking alcohol could have for them, their loved ones and the general public.”
 
In 2025, the ABCC Safe Campus program found approximately 104 minors in possession, transporting, or attempting to purchase alcoholic beverages, 10 adults procuring alcohol for minors, 250 individuals in possession of false identification. Approximately 38 cases of beer and 40 bottles of alcohol were confiscated by Investigators, preventing delivery to approximately 550 underage individuals. In 2025, bars and liquor stores were charged with approximately 200 counts of sale to underage persons.
 
Since 2005, these programs have resulted in the following cumulative results: 14,500 minors in possession or transporting alcoholic beverages; 3,700 adults procuring alcohol for minors; 2,500 individuals in possession of false identification; and approximately 6,600 cases of beer and 5,600 of alcohol were confiscated, preventing delivery to an estimated 86,200 underage individuals.
 
Annually, approximately 1,519 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related injuries, including motor vehicle crashes, 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking, and 14 percent of college students meet the criteria for an alcohol use disorder. In Massachusetts alone, the overall annual cost of alcohol abuse by youth is estimated at $1.4 billion.
 
Massachusetts IMPACT impaired driving data shows that 10% of all traffic fatalities involve drivers under the age of 21.
 
Massachusetts is among the top ten states for binge drinking, with more than 1 in 4 (27.75%) adults age 18 or older reporting they binged on alcohol in 2020. Among young people ages 12 to 20, 20.77% reported alcohol use in the past month and 11.81% reported binge alcohol use in the past month in Massachusetts. The national averages were 17.32% and 10.14%, respectively.
 
One in three (33.86%) substance abuse treatment admissions among persons aged 12 and older in 2019 in Massachusetts were alcohol related.