Law enforcement agencies for years have used undercover teens to stop alcohol sales to minors at convenience stores, grocery stores and bars. If clerks sell to the teens, officers charge them will transferring alcohol to a minor, a misdemeanor punishable by a $200 fine or 30 days in jail.

That seems straightforward enough. But now we learn that magistrate judges are throwing out cases because of unclear wording in the law. The law states that alcohol must be for the "purpose of consumption." Judges are dismissing cases because teens sent by officers to buy the alcoholic beverages never actually intended to consume it.

Such a literal interpretation of the law strikes us as over the top. The undercover teens might have been buying beer to use to kill slugs in their gardens. But whether consumption was the explicit purpose or not, the clerks illegally sold alcohol to minors making it possible for them to consume it if they wanted to.

Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone said he plans to appeal one or more of the dismissed cases to get a ruling from the state Supreme Court. A more permanent solution might be to tighten the law so that "for the purpose of consumption" applies to the product, not the intentions of the buyer.

Certainly, this problem should not curtail the sting operations that help identify unscrupulous store clerks and owners. The cases thrown out involved stings set up by the State Law Enforcement Division, but Rock Hill police and other local law enforcement agencies also have used stings involving undercover teens to nab those who sell not only alcohol but also cigarettes to minors.

This is an effective way to catch merchants in the act of selling to minors. Instead of jeopardizing the sting operations, the state Supreme Court needs to clarify the law or lawmakers need to fix it.

IN SUMMARY
Loophole should not be allowed to interfere with sting operations using minors.