Oregon officials are using decoys to catch underage weed and alcohol sales

The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) will resume operations, sending underage bait to cannabis and alcohol dealers, according to a Sept. 15 news release.

In some Oregon cities, two out of three retailers have failed to check for IDs with “miserable” results – leading to OLCC officials promising a stricter operation this time.

The OLCC oversees its Minor Decoy Operations (MDO), and officers will send decoys under the age of 21 to both alcohol and cannabis dealers to try and buy products from them. The OLCC this year opted to pay for bait rather than recruit volunteers and selected 18-20 year olds who looked 26 or older.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the chaos that followed, Minor Decoy Operations was temporarily suspended as it became increasingly difficult to recruit volunteers. OLCC restarted the program last May and recruited people between the ages of 18 and 20.

OLCC conducted multiple operations across Oregon and said the operations have revealed a staggering number of retailers in the state are not properly verifying ID for underage customers.

“The state has never seen such horrible results in alcohol sales compliance testing since the program was introduced in the 1990s,” said Steve Marks, OLCC executive director. “Any licensee engaged in the sale of alcohol must immediately make proper training of waiters and salespeople a priority.”

Eugene retailers performed particularly poorly: In two Eugene-area MDOs, about two out of three retailers did not properly verify identification and sold alcohol to an OLCC minority bait posing as a customer. The combined compliance rate for Eugene’s MDOs was only 35%.

Since the program restarted, the OLCC has launched five regional operations across the state to screen 64 locations that sell alcohol. Two MDOs in Portland achieved compliance rates of 70% and 85%, and a single MDO in the Salem area resulted in a compliance rate of 88%—the best result to date.

This brings the countrywide compliance rate to 63% since MDO activity resumed. OLCC’s goal is for 90% or more of its licensees to be compliant. Individual MDO reports with more details can be found on the OLCC website.

OLCC officers are often in league with the police. “The OLCC and local law enforcement often work together in operations to monitor small bait trying to purchase alcohol,” the OLCC explained.

The OLCC ramped up its operations in 2018 when cannabis dealers failed to screen minors for ID, “to remind the industry of the importance of this public safety issue and seek immediate improvement in outcomes.”

Inspectors from OLCC’s Compliance Division are available to provide alcohol and marijuana retailers with free identity verification courses. Information on how to contact an OLCC regional office to arrange an in-person class is available on the OLCC website. Licensees can find an ID check leaflet on the OLCC website.

OLCC Chief Executive Marks is more than a little concerned about non-compliance.

“The current statewide compliance rate is abysmal,” Marks said. “These results are totally unacceptable and you can be assured that OLCC recognizes its deep responsibility to Oregon residents to ensure alcohol sales are done properly. We will take action.”

Even in 2018, when the OLCC last ramped things up, abysmal compliance rates from Oregon retailers was an issue.