In the inner city, sobering facts about liquor licenses

Parkwood Liquors, on Blue Hill Avenue in Dorchester, holds one of 104 alcohol-sales licenses in the city’s largest neighborhood. (Globe Staff Photo / David Kamerman)

Outside Parkwood Liquors on Blue Hill Avenue one recent day, a man in dusty clothing and matted hair was talking to no one in particular, slurring his words as he spoke and making his points by taking stabs at the air.

Inside, another man completed his purchase at the counter, which was lined by a clear barrier shielding bottles of liquor along the back wall.

It was 9:30 - in the morning.

John Joung, the owner and manager of Parkwood for 20 years, made no apologies for the early opening hours, which comply with state law. He is, he said, meeting a customer demand.

"They're coming."

The scene on Blue Hill Avenue - the spine of Roxbury, Mattapan, and western Dorchester - highlights the stubborn problem of heavy drinking in the inner city. Some neighborhood activists say liquor stores help sow the seeds of alcohol dependence, and they are trying to step up awareness about alcohol as a public health and public safety issue.

"Clearly the liquor stores are something that we need to address," said Michael Kozu, a community coordinator at Project RIGHT, a grass-roots organization on Blue Hill Avenue. "They really impact . . . a lot of folks who are drunk, disorderly, and cause disruption for people going to and from work and to school."

Recent studies detail the grim effects of alcohol in urban communities. In April, a University of Minnesota survey covering 10 cities, including Boston, found that alcohol, especially malt liquor, is more widely available in poor, black neighborhoods. The report underscored activists' complaints that liquor stores prey on the poor.

In a separate report this year, the Medical Foundation, a Boston-based research funding group, urged local groups concerned about the density of alcohol outlets and advertising to collaborate and promote awareness strategies.

The group found 1,182 alcohol beverage licenses in the city. Dorchester, the city's largest neighborhood, led the pack with 104; Allston-Brighton followed with 80; South Boston, 71; and East Boston, 69 - 16 of which were at Logan International Airport, the review found.

Roxbury is near the middle of the list with 60 alcohol beverage licenses, followed by Jamaica Plain with 38, Roslindale with 33, Hyde Park with 25, Charlestown with 23, West Roxbury with 21, and Mattapan with 11, according to the review.

Dorchester teens participating in the review also surveyed 50 of the 104 alcohol outlets in their neighborhood and took photographs of 164 advertisements, including signs on storefronts and bars as well as standalone neon signs. The total worked out to a ratio of more than three alcohol ads per one alcohol outlet, the review found.

Activists trying to curb underage drinking say the alcohol industry targets young people with signs that signal that it's OK to drink. The marketing - especially the high density of signs - can contribute to underage drinking, youth violence, and youth alcohol abuse, according to the Medical Foundation review.

"What we have found about outlet density is that . . . the greater the outlet density, the more likelihood for heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems among college students," said Henry Wechsler, a lecturer at Harvard School of Public Health, who was not involved in the foundation's review.

Activists and government officials are pushing back.

Last month, 85 minors in Boston were caught in possession of alcohol or trying to buy it, according to Ted Mahony, chief investigator with the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.

The Medical Foundation urged groups to step up awareness efforts, map locations of alcohol outlets, conduct photo surveys, and partner with lawmakers and the ABCC around underage drinking.

Recently, the state awarded grants to organizations in 31 communities, including four in Boston, to better assess underage drinking in their neighborhoods and develop strategies to address it. The Boston groups - Dorchester Substance Abuse Coalition, Chinatown Coalition for underage drinking prevention, South Boston CAN, and Allston-Brighton Substance Abuse Task Force - will each get $80,000 per year for three years, according to the website of the Office of Health and Human Services.

"We are trying to change the environment and the access to alcohol, alcohol marketing, underage drinking, and alcohol abuse by making it harder for young people to get alcohol," said Amy Helburn, with the Medical Foundation.

Daniel F. Pokaski, chairman of Boston's Licensing Board, said his panel has denied licenses in "saturated" areas of the city.

Bob Selby, a board member of the Massachusetts Package Stores Association, said store employees are trained to watch out for minors and those who try to get liquor for them. He said youth access to alcohol occurs mostly in the home.

"The liquor stores take a lot of the beating for a lot of the underage drinking," he said, "but most of it comes from the parents."

As for the early opening hours, state law allows package stores to open as early as 8 a.m. Pokaski said that in some cases the Licensing Board has stepped into problem areas, such as Dudley Square, to work with owners to delay openings until 10 a.m., but it "requires cooperation from the retail package licensee," as well as legislative action.

He doesn't buy the criticism that liquor stores are preying on the poor.

" I don't see that," Pokaski said. "They get to make a living too. They are hard-working people like everybody else."

Meghan Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com.