The LCBO’s Check 25 program has long asked patrons who appear to be 25 or younger to be prepared to present valid I.D. at checkout if asked — now those customers are being told to have their identification already out in line, ready to be checked. These new practices being put in place to aid in the LCBO’s quest to keep liquor out of the hands of minors, will entail bold signage at store entrances, cash registers, and around the stores, as well as PA announcements reminding the young and the youthful looking to have their I.D. out preemptively.
University towns and areas with large student populations have already had the pleasure of feeling the eyes of LCBO-Big-Brother on their back via signs and PA announcements. Now thanks to the program’s success in such places, (like younger customers leaving lines to put their booze back when they heard about the new rules) the stricter Check 25 guidelines will be making their way to the rest of the province starting with 75 GTA-area stores before spreading to the 631-store LCBO network.
The news that younger LCBO customers will have to have their I.D. out and waiting as if they were about to board a plane and not purchase spirits is still fairly recent, yet we believe those in their early twenties won’t be too happy about being considered guilty before innocent. And coming off the verdict that the LCBO was breaching the privacy rights of wine club members, it seems like the Liquor Control Board of Ontario is really feeling the theme of ‘complete control’ for 2013.
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Hallae Khosravi is an intern at Toronto Standard. Follow her on Twitter @hallaek.
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