Pocket shots concern colleges

Pocket Shots are marketed as booze in a bag that "goes anywhere." Gina Firth, an associate dean of students at the University of Tampa, is concerned these little bags might go places where alcohol isn’t allowed.

“It makes it way too accessible and easy to bring to place that you're not supposed to be bringing alcohol,” Firth said.

Pocket Shots are sold at liquor stores around the Tampa Bay area and on the Internet. The company says they're for people on the go who are over 21, and since this is a single-serve item, it’s easier to keep track of how much you've consumed.

We wondered how hard it would be for underage kids to get their hands on the product and so did the University of Tampa. The college let us work with Kesha Dorman, who is 21 and in her senior year. Dorman went on the web site. It asked her to put in her date of birth, and then directed her to an online store to make the purchase.

“You just clicked on what you wanted to buy and there was a caution about a tax for buying alcohol but that was about it,” she said.

The student had it mailed to her address on campus.

”I was in between classes, went to pick it up, and they just handed it to me," she recalled.

The box arrived with a sticker on it saying there was alcohol inside and the person who signed for it must be 21. The supervisor in the campus mailroom is over 21, but she also signed for hundreds of packages that day.

“It's a reality that we kind of have to come to grips with,” said Firth, who told us the University of Tampa will use this experience as an educational opportunity and tighten up its mailroom practices.

Firth also plans to share this information with other colleges giving them a better shot at stopping underage and irresponsible consumption of alcohol which, if you read the Pocket Shots web site, is the company’s stated goal as well.