PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. - The mayor of Pembroke Pines wants to stop underage drinking by training the front-line employees who could potentially sell alcohol to minors, The Star reports.

Mayor Frank Ortis is pushing an ordinance that would require any retailer selling alcohol between 11 pm and 3 am or 4 am to have its workers take a class about the dangers of underage drinking.

"We??ve learned there is a lot of underage drinking going on in the hours of 11 pm. until 3 or 4 am," said Ortis. "If a convenience store, gas station or restaurant is open until 4 am, we want to educate their employees on the consequences of underage drinking."

Employees completing the course will receive a certificate. The class will cover how to decipher fake ID cards. Retailers participating in the course will have the option of selling alcohol for longer hours, such as beginning sales at 11 am, and extending the cut off time of 3 am for stores and 4 am for bars and clubs.

While Ortis said he doesn??t have statistics on how many minors in Pembroke Pines drink, he thinks enough teens do it to justify the change. Ortis wants input from area businesses before taking the proposal to the town council.

Oakland Park, Fla., approved a similar measure three years ago, which lowered the incidences of selling alcohol to minors from 90 percent to 60 percent, according to the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.