Increasing public awareness of underage drinking in your community can be a major environmental strategy to change community norms. Communities can help address underage drinking by employing strategies to reduce the appeal and availability of alcohol to minors while enforcing laws designed to do so. Children draw conclusions about alcohol-related social norms from what they see and hear about alcohol in their families and communities. These norms strongly influence their own attitudes and behaviors regarding alcohol (SAMHSA Prevention Partners).

According to the Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free, successful community alcohol prevention programs focus on one or more of three key objectives: (1) reduce the availability of alcohol; (2) improve the effectiveness of law enforcement; and (3) change community norms and practices regarding alcohol. In your role as prevention coordinator you will need to ensure that your plans include these objectives.

Enforcement of underage drinking laws has a strong deterrent effect on underage drinking. In part, it helps reduce underage drinking by limiting access to alcohol, reducing the opportunities for youth to drink, and curbing impaired driving. Rigid enforcement reinforces the message that adults and youth must be responsible for their actions and that violating the law is unacceptable. Further, enforcement validates the activities of prevention specialists and can help treatment specialists identify youth in need of help.

To create effective enforcement strategies, enforcement officials and officers must learn the differences between adult and youth drinking habits.

• Young people and adults drink at different times and in different places.

  Time:

  • Young people drink most heavily on weekends, especially between 10 P.M. and 1 A.M. and after school.

  • Adults drink throughout the week. DUI citations usually occur between 2 and 3 A.M.

Place:

• Young people will generally drink at remote sights like beaches or fields, or in neighborhood homes without adults present. Very often they gather in large groups (Preusser,1993; Jones-Webb et al., 1997).

• Underage drinking drivers experience more fatalities at lower blood alcohol levels than adults do. In 2003, 25 percent of the young drivers 15 to 20 years old who were killed in crashes had a BAC of 0.08 g/dl or higher (NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts, 2003).

• Underage drinkers drink more heavily than the average adult drinker but they drink less often. On average, 12- to 20-year-olds drink about 6 days a month, compared with slightly more than 8 days for adults. However, while adults consumed less than three drinks a day, underage drinkers report they usually consume four-and-a-half drinks each time they drink (Schulenberg et al., 1996).

Sanctions for alcohol-related offenses

Both NHTSA and NIAAA have recommended the following sanctions for alcohol-related offenses:

• Incarceration
• Out-of-Home placement and weekend interventions
• Probation, which may include
  • Restricted access to an automobile
  • Forbidding the use of alcohol
  • Limited access to specific places and people
  • Mandatory participation in educational, medical, or counseling programs
  • Curfews
  • Attendance at school
  • Random blood or urine testing
• License suspension or revocation
• Mandatory community service
• Fines and restitution
• Parental involvement, which may include
  • Attendance at all court proceedings
  • Participation in rehabilitative programs
  • Participation in parenting skills classes (NHTSA, Sentencing and Dispositions of Youth DUI and Other Alcohol Offenses)

Successful Underage Drinking Enforcement Strategies

Enforcement strategies work to reduce underage drinking when laws are actually enforced. A successful prevention program requires the endorsement and whole-hearted participation of local law enforcement.

Successful enforcement strategies encourage alcohol vendors to fully comply with the law, effectively reduce the availability of alcohol, and frequently team youth volunteers with local law enforcement.

There are several programs of merit operating all over the United States that have proven to be successful in reducing underage drinking:

• Covert Underage Buyer -- Teen volunteers attempt to purchase alcohol from a variety of sources to ascertain if the seller will request an ID.

• Cops in Shops - Law enforcement officers deployed in retail shops throughout the community cite or arrest underage youth who attempt to purchase or do purchase alcohol illegally.

• Mr. Will You - Youth volunteers approach adults gathered outside liquor stores, convenience stores, or other alcohol outlets and ask them to purchase alcohol for them.

• Fake Ids - With the proliferation of computers, almost anyone can easily create false identification. This has led many states to alter their driver's licenses and institute other methods of tracing identification.

• Party Buster Hotlines - Some communities have instituted telephone numbers which adults or youth can anonymously call to report sales of alcohol to youths and parties at which underage drinking is a problem.

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