Legal drinking draws 19-year-olds into Canadian clubs and pubs

BELLINGHAM – Nineteen-year-olds in the state have to wait until they’re 21 before they can legally drink alcohol. But if they’re Whatcom County residents, they have to wait only as long as it takes to drive to Canada.

Many Whatcom County young adults head to Canada to do what they can’t do here: drink alcohol at 19 and 20 without breaking the law.

Young adults in the United States also head north to go dancing or hear live music, something they can’t do at local over-21 hangouts that serve alcohol.

And many bars in southern British Columbia are glad to have them, offering drink specials, favorable exchange rates, even limousine packages to encourage young adults to make the trip north.

Katie Denton, a 21-year-old Bellingham woman, used to drive to nightclubs in White Rock and Delta, British Columbia, so often that she kept her passport in her glove compartment.

On Friday and Saturday nights, young Americans make up about a third of the business at Cheers nightclub in Delta, said Scott Hilderman, club manager. He’s kept the Americans coming back despite the weakening U.S. dollar by offering them a much better exchange rate, 40 percent, than they can get at banks.

About 20 percent of the customers at White Rock’s Ocean Beach Grill and Hotel, called “O.B.” by regulars, are Americans, said manager Frank Veltri. When the U.S. dollar was stronger, Americans were about half his business, he said.

Many Canadian bars “aggressively advertise” to students on this side of the border, said Pat Fabiano, director of prevention and wellness services at Western Washington University.

But heavy drinking in Canada is part of the “urban myth” about social life close to the border, Fabiano said. She doesn’t think being close to Canada results in young adults drinking more here. Research shows that Western students don’t drink more than college students in other parts of the country, she said.

But drinking is only one of the reasons young adults say they head north to have fun.

“In Bellingham, a lot of the dancing and music are in bars where, if you’re under 21, you can’t go,” said Anna Blair, 19.

Many people actually drink more if they stay home, Blair said, where alcohol is free and plentiful at parties and people can walk home.

But going to Canada to drink may appeal more to under-21s who don’t want to get a fake ID, get beer illegally or risk getting cited for underage drinking.

A night out in Canada takes a bit more planning than going out at home. Many young people rent a hotel room and stay over, particularly if they’re going all the way to Vancouver.

For shorter trips, partiers must arrange for a designated driver, because they can count on at least a short chat with a law enforcement officer when they cross the border on the way home.

While border guards’ first priority is to stop terrorists and illegal drugs, they can also stop drunken teenagers from driving through, said Mike Milne, public affairs officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

But under-21s who are still tipsy when they cross the border aren’t home free, Fabiano said.

“They can be arrested as a minor in possession,” she said, “because their body is considered the container.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.