Responses to the Problem of Underage Drinking
Your analysis of your local problem should give you a
better understanding of the factors contributing to it.
Once you have analyzed your local problem and
established a baseline for measuring effectiveness, you
should consider possible responses to address the
The following response strategies provide a foundation of ideas for addressing your particular problem. These strategies are drawn from a variety of research studies and police reports. Several of these strategies may apply to your communitys problem. It is critical that you tailor responses to local circumstances, and that you can justify each response based on reliable analysis. In most cases, an effective strategy will involve implementing several different responses. Law enforcement responses alone are seldom effective in reducing or solving the problem. Do not limit yourself to considering what police can do: carefully consider whether others in your community share responsibility for the problem and can help police better respond to it.
General Considerations for an Effective Response Strategy
- Reducing the community’s overall alcohol
consumption. Any efforts to reduce a community’s
overall drinking have the potential to reduce underage
drinking as well. Changing the norms about alcohol’s role
in the community can affect young people as well as those
legal to drink. Specific responses could include
discouraging price discounts on alcohol, restricting the
hours or days retailers can sell alcohol, or limiting the
number of community alcohol outlets.
- Creating community coalitions. Many groups have a
vested interest in the problem of underage drinking.
However, conflicting personal, political, and business
interests can make cooperative community efforts difficult
to implement and even harder to sustain.42 The most
successful efforts to combat underage drinking have
included a broad range of stakeholders who can lend their
specific expertise to the issue, and whose involvement can
help to reduce any resistance to the effort. Potential
partners include the following:
- state, local, and campus police agencies;
- county prosecutor’s and city attorney’s offices;
- state and local elected officials;
- local high schools, colleges, and universities;
- parent organizations such as the Parent-Teacher
Association and Mothers Against Drunk Driving;
- student organizations such as the student council,
athletics associations, Students Against Drunk Driving,
and Interfraternity Council;
- community recreation programs and athletic programs;
- community and neighborhood programs such as Crime
Watch and Neighborhood Watch;
- alcohol licensing bureaus and ABC boards;
- local bars and restaurants, and alcohol wholesalers and
- local retailers and distribution centers; and
media advocacy groups.
- Using a multifaceted, comprehensive approach. A
multifaceted, comprehensive approach is more effective
than one that focuses on only one or two aspects of
underage drinking. For example, responses targeting only
the commercial availability of alcohol to minors could
displace the problem to residential neighborhoods, in the
form of house parties. A comprehensive approach should
address the motivations for underage drinking, the specific
harms associated with underage drinking (e.g., drunken
driving), the commercial and social availability of alcohol,
the use of fake IDs, and the community’s norms regarding
alcohol. It is vital to look broadly at the environment that
supports the problem behavior.† Programs targeting the
college environments in which drinking occurs have been
shown to reduce the level of students’ alcohol
consumption, as well as the problems experienced by
drinkers and those around them.43
- Understanding your state’s laws regarding
underage drinking. All U.S. states have laws governing
minors’ purchase and possession of alcohol. However, the
specifics of the laws vary widely, and their usefulness in
constructing responses can be limited by unusual wording
44 When considering responses that alter
penalties or apply new sections of law to the problem, it is
vitally important to consult with your jurisdiction’s
prosecutor to ensure the law’s interpretation supports your
- Avoiding overwhelming the court system. Stepping
up enforcement efforts nearly always results in an increase
in court cases. If the system is not prepared to handle the
increase, and offenders are not quickly sanctioned, the
response’s effectiveness may be undermined. For this
reason alone, it is often worthwhile to develop responses
that do not rely on the application of criminal penalties.
Some jurisdictions have anticipated this issue and have
included court representatives in the project-planning
phase, to get their cooperation in handling the increased
number of cases,45 or have enlisted them as partners to
create alternative sanctions for offenders, such as
community service-based diversion programs.
Specific Responses to Underage Drinking
Responses That Target the Motivation to Drink
- Implementing a "social norms" program. Some
interventions use a harm-reduction approach. In other
words, they attempt to reduce how much or how often
young people drink, rather than try to prevent underage
drinking altogether, which some see as unrealistic,
particularly among college students. Given that many youth drink because
they think "everyone
else is doing it," providing accurate information on the
typical amount of alcohol consumed and the proportion
of peers who drink heavily (both of which are lower than
most young people estimate) may reduce overall
consumption levels among college students.
steps include identifying students’ primary source of
information (e.g., the campus newspaper), placing notices
that provide accurate statistics regarding alcohol use, and
providing students with incentives to process and retain
the information. Social norms researchers recommend
keeping the message simple, straightforward, and
consistent, and stressing the norm of moderation.
Anticipate some opposition to an approach that could be
perceived as condoning some level of underage drinking.†
Many universities have developed a wide variety
aids to correct students’
misperceptions of typical
drinking behavior among
Source: University of Arizona Social Norms
Campaign, see http://www.socialnorm.org/
- Raising underage drinkers’ awareness of their
behavior’s impact on other people. Informing underage
drinkers that their drinking adversely affects their peers,
and that their peers are no longer willing to tolerate it, can
encourage young people to reduce their alcohol use.
These campaigns should take care not to reinforce an
institution’s reputation as a "party school" or encourage
the ostracism of nondrinkers.
They should direct those
interested to further resources and information.
Posters and flyers raise awareness of
second-hand effects of drinking.
Source: Hobart &
William Smith College’s
Alcohol Education Project, see
- Providing treatment or feedback. Cognitivebehavioral
approaches and skills-based training have
proved effective strategies in reducing high-risk drinking
among young people.
These interventions require
drinkers to monitor their alcohol use and any alcohol related
problems. They also teach important skills such as
drink refusal and drink pacing to reduce the harms
associated with underage drinking. In addition,
motivational techniques† that provide nonjudgmental
feedback to young people based on their own assessment
of their drinking patterns have had some success in
reducing drinking and its negative consequences.
Responses That Target Commercial Access to Alcohol
- Improving the ability to detect fake IDs. Using fake
IDs to obtain alcohol from retailers or at bars and
restaurants is widespread, in part because of the relative
ease in altering, forging, or counterfeiting these
documents. In addition, underage drinkers often present
merchants, bartenders, and door staff with out-of-state
IDs with which they are not familiar, making it difficult to
detect minor alterations. ID guides can help in detecting
the more egregious falsifications.†† Training programs are
also available to help in identifying more subtle forms of
falsification, such as picture replacement, date adjustments,
computer-generated duplicates, and mismatches between
the person’s appearance and the ID photograph.
ID guides can help doormen to identify
documents that have been
Credit: David Corbett
Many states have changed their driver’s licenses and ID
cards to make them more tamper-resistant. For example,
some states use a profile photograph of minors to clearly
indicate that they are under 21. Others boldly print
"Under 21 Until…" on the face of ID cards. Holograms
or indicators that can be seen only under an ultraviolet
light can also deter counterfeiting. Using scanners to read
barcodes and magnetic strips can also help in detecting
altered ID cards.
While this response must be enacted at
the state level, it can provide a powerful tool for reducing
When citing someone for using a fake ID, you should ask
about the source of the document so that you can tailor
your responses to unique problems or emerging trends.
For example, one jurisdiction confiscated a number of
fake IDs procured through the Internet. By copyrighting
the state’s driver’s license, the jurisdiction could use
copyright-violation laws to close down counterfeiting
- Implementing "Responsible Beverage Service and
Sales Training" programs. The primary lines of defense
against commercial access to alcohol by underage youth
are the sales clerks, waiters and waitresses, and bartenders
who directly interact with them. Business owners and
managers should set clear policies for their employees
regarding checking ID and denying service to underage
customers. Without this support, changes in server or
seller behavior are unlikely.
Many states’ ABC boards provide free responsible-
beverage- service-and-sales training to licensed
establishments. Some states require such training for
licensing, and others provide specific incentives for
businesses that participate voluntarily. These programs
inform participants about state and local ordinances
concerning alcohol sales to minors, and about penalties for
breaking the law. Further, they help owners and managers
to develop establishment-level policies and practices to
help employees carry out their legal obligations. Essential
elements of effective service and sales policies include:
- establishing 21 as the minimum age for everyone who
serves or sells alcohol,
- ensuring that staff know their legal responsibilities
- regarding underage sales,
- ensuring that staff know the establishment’s policies
and the consequences for violating them,
requiring ID from all customers who appear to be
- developing specific guidelines and providing training on
valid forms of ID, and
- monitoring staff compliance and enforcing
consequences for violations.
Good training programs offer skill-development exercises,
- how to identify a fake ID, how to confiscate it, and
what to do with it once confiscated;
- how to determine whether an adult is buying alcohol
for someone underage, and how to refuse service;
- how to resist pressure to serve or sell alcohol to an
underage customer; and
- how to refuse service without creating a tense situation.
Businesses should inform customers about their
participation in such programs, both to encourage
community support for responsible business practices and
to deter underage youth from trying to buy alcohol or gain
- Enforcing minimum-age purchase laws. The
primary means to enforce minimum-age purchase laws is
to conduct compliance checks of businesses that sell
alcohol for use either on or off premises. Compliance
checks use underage volunteers who try to gain entry and
alcohol service at bars or restaurants, or buy alcohol at
stores. The volunteer is directed to be truthful about his
or her age, if asked, and to present legitimate ID. If the
volunteer is able to buy alcohol, the server and manager
are cited for violating the minimum-age purchase law. In
some jurisdictions, if a clerk or bartender appropriately
denies service to an underage volunteer, the alcohol board
notifies the business owner and encourages the owner to
congratulate and reward the employee for obeying the
There are a number of important considerations and
decisions to be made when designing a compliance
- selecting underage volunteers who clearly look
underage, and whose diverse characteristics may help to
avoid bias or other factors that may influence sales
- training volunteers on how to make a purchase: how to
act, what to say, and how to respond to questions;
- selecting location, time of day, and frequency of
- choosing the type and amount of alcohol to buy; and
- addressing a variety of operational issues, such as
deploying officers, issuing citations, recording or
observing transactions, keeping records, and working
with the media.
Given that the overall goal is to reduce alcohol sales to
minors, and not to issue a high volume of citations, it is
important to give retailers, bars, and restaurants notice that
random and ongoing compliance checks will be
Such notice, and prior consultation with local
prosecutors, can also help to prevent entrapment claims.
Some jurisdictions supplement compliance investigations
with "Cops-in-Shops" operations that station a police
officer in an establishment, as either a customer or an
employee, to apprehend underage people trying to buy
alcohol. Establishments cooperating in these operations
post a sign in the window notifying customers that a
police officer may pose as an employee, and advising them
of the penalties for underage purchases. While this
enforcement strategy has not been rigorously evaluated,
case studies suggest that "Cops-in-Shops" programs can
effectively supplement compliance checks, although they
should not substitute for them.
One of the main benefits
of these operations is on-the-job training on identifying
fake IDs and detecting typical physical and behavioral
characteristics of minors–and of adults buying alcohol for
- Conducting undercover "shoulder tap" operations.
One of the main ways that young people obtain alcohol
from commercial sources is to ask strangers to buy it for
them. In "shoulder tap" operations, an undercover
operative approaches an adult outside a store and asks the
adult to buy him or her alcohol. If the adult agrees and
does so, he or she is cited for furnishing alcohol to
someone underage. As with all undercover operations,
decisions about the characteristics of the volunteers used,
the scripts delivered, the types of establishments and
potential buyers targeted, the time of day, and other
concerns are paramount to the effectiveness of the
response. Very few of these operations have been
evaluated, but case studies suggest that highly publicized
operations that generate a large number of citations are
likely to have a deterrent effect and reduce the amount of
alcohol minors obtain through third parties.
- Checking ID at bars and nightclubs. In this
response, either plainclothes or uniformed officers enter
an "on-premise" establishment and check the IDs of
everyone drinking alcohol. They cite those with no or
fraudulent ID, and the establishment may face
administrative consequences. These ID checks encourage
doormen and bartenders to be diligent in their efforts to
verify customer age, and they show customers that the
police support the establishment’s policies and procedures.
- Applying graduated sanctions to retailers that break the law.
There are three types of penalties imposed
in response to violations of minimum-age purchase laws:
- Administrative: These penalties involve restrictions,
suspensions, or revocations of business licenses if
retailers do not follow state and local standards of
- Criminal: These penalties apply to the person who sells
alcohol to a minor. They may include fines, probation,
or imprisonment, and they may be noted on a criminal
- Civil: These penalties are commonly called "dramshop
liability," and refer to lawsuits for monetary damages
for any harm caused by minors served alcohol by
Penalties are most effective when believed to be both swift
and certain. The likelihood of sanctions is more important
than the severity of sanctions in encouraging compliance.
Given the complexity and often excessive severity of
criminal charges, most states have found that
administrative penalties are the most effective. Further,
administrative penalties hold the establishment’s owner
responsible and significantly affect profitability, which
encourages owners to ensure that all employees follow the
law. The threat of civil liability has been shown to increase
the consistency with which ID is checked, and to be
related to decreases in negative alcohol-related
One incentive for retailers to comply with
the various provisions of responsible-beverage-serviceand-
sales programs is to shield them from dramshop
liability if they can demonstrate that they followed all
applicable policies and practices.
Responses That Target Social Access to Alcohol
Many states use keg registration to
link information about those who
purchase a keg to the keg itself.
Buyers are required to complete a form
the time of purchase.
The keg is marked with a permanent
sticker or tag.
Source: Georgia Department of Revenue
- Training adults about "social host liability." Social
host liability refers to the imposition of civil penalties
against adults who provide alcohol to minors for injuries
caused by those minors. Approximately 30 states have
some form of social-host-liability law,
but education and
awareness programs must be in place to make them
At a minimum, education efforts should stress
that it is unacceptable for adults to furnish minors with
alcohol, and should increase awareness of relevant laws,
penalties, and enforcement initiatives. This type of training
has proved particularly effective with Greek organizations
on college campuses, some of which have radically altered
their practices regarding large house parties.
- Requiring keg registration.
Police have noted that it
is often difficult to identify the adult responsible for
providing alcohol to minors at large house parties,
particularly keg parties on college campuses. Keg
registration links buyer information to the keg itself,
through tags, stickers, or ID numbers stenciled on the keg.
At the retail outlet, the buyer must provide ID and contact
information, and may also be required to sign a statement
indicating awareness that it is illegal to furnish alcohol to
minors. When police seize a keg of beer at a party where
underage drinking is occurring, the person responsible for
furnishing the alcohol can be easily identified through the
retailer. This response is relatively low-cost. However, a
number of jurisdictions have noted that retailers can
exploit voluntary keg registration by advertising their
refusal to participate (e.g., "We don’t use keg tracking").
Thus, it may be sensible to make keg registration
Responses That Target Locations Where Drinking Occurs
- Developing house party guidelines, registration
forms, and pre-party walk-through procedures.
Offering guidance on how to host a safe party at which
minors cannot access alcohol can reduce underage
drinking and the number of complaints received from
neighbors bothered by noise, traffic, and other party byproducts.
A number of police departments and college
student organizations have developed guidelines for safe
parties. These guidelines offer pre-party preparation and
hosting tips, such as the following:
- Inform neighbors about the party and ask them to
contact the host first if they have any concerns or
problems, rather than automatically calling the police.
- Take frequent walks around the outside of the house
and property to assess noise levels.
- Do not permit underage guests to drink.
- Ensure that people who have been drinking do not
- If the police do show up, turn off the music, stop the
party, and talk calmly with the officers.
Other jurisdictions use voluntary party registration forms
and pre-party site visits by police to offer prevention tips
to parents or property owners. Guides have been
developed to help high school students’ parents in
planning parties at their homes. Typical guidelines include
- Limit the number of people invited, and the number of
people allowed on the property.
- Have sufficient chaperones to monitor the property and
the guests for any problems.
- Be prepared the call an underage guest’s parents if he
or she appears to be under the influence of drugs or
- Set a beginning and ending time for the party.
It is important to remind party hosts that pre-party police
advice is not foolproof, and that controlling the party and
access to alcohol is their responsibility.
Well-publicized hotlines can be
a valuable source
about party locations.
Texas Alcohol Beverage Commision
- Setting up hotlines to gather information. Hotlines
for students, teachers, or parents concerned about
underage drinking can be a valuable information source.
People use a hotline to report a party location either
before or during the event. Patrol officers then drive by
the location to identify any problems. Providing an easyto-
remember phone number, ensuring caller anonymity,
and staffing the hotline with nonpolice personnel increase
the likelihood people will call.
- Deploying party patrols. Teams of police officers
dedicated to identifying and dispersing parties where
underage drinking is occurring not only serve as a
deterrent to such events, but also can reduce the number
of youth who drive after drinking. Police identify party
locations through hotline reports, complaints received
from neighbors, keg registrations, or routine patrol.† Once
police establish probable cause and secure the perimeter of
the location, they enter it;†† contact the host; identify those
age 21 and over and those under 21 who have not been
drinking, and release them; and process those under 21
who have been drinking. They also cite the adult(s)
responsible for furnishing the alcohol. Arranging safe
transportation for those who have been drinking is vitally
important. There are a number of detailed implementation
- Imposing fines for each underage person drinking
at a party. Large monetary penalties for providing alcohol
to minors can be an effective deterrent to groups and
organizations that regularly host parties where underage
drinking occurs (e.g., fraternities and sororities). Issuing a
summons to the responsible adult for each underage guest
found drinking at a party can be financially devastating.
One jurisdiction issued 70 summonses at one event,
resulting in a fine of over $20,000 to the host.
financial liability from large parties where alcohol
distribution is not controlled has caused a number of
national Greek organizations to require that their
properties and social functions be alcohol-free.
fine amounts are modest, party hosts may conclude that
they are a small cost compared with the revenue they get
from charging admission.
- Using landlord-tenant ordinances and nuisance
abatement procedures. When police receive numerous
complaints about parties from neighbors, and respond to a
location multiple times and find underage drinking, they
may have additional leverage through landlord-tenant
ordinances and nuisance abatement procedures.
party host rents the property, the landlord can be brought
in to help resolve the problem. Upon the first citation for
providing alcohol to minors, the landlord is issued a
warning. Subsequent citations lead to requirements for
corrective action plans, and ultimately, eviction if the
problem continues. Similarly, some jurisdictions have used
nuisance abatement procedures to combat problems often
associated with house parties, such as illegal alcohol sales,
excessive noise, and property damage.
It is vitally
important to document all contacts with tenants and
owners to establish a record of noncompliance.
- Restricting alcohol use at popular outdoor venues
and community events. Restricting drinking in public
places can reduce excessive drinking and sales to minors.
One way to control the flow of alcohol at public venues is
to issue conditional-use permits that set standards for how
and when alcohol can be sold, served, or consumed. These
permits can restrict drinking to certain "21 and over"
areas, restrict the hours of sale, and limit advertising.
- Sponsoring alcohol-free events. High school and
college students often complain that "there’s nothing to
do" in their communities, and often have few
opportunities to socialize outside of school. This may
increase drinking’s appeal. Coalition- or school-sponsored
alcohol-free events can increase the array of social
alternatives for youth and can substitute for events and
traditions centered on excessive drinking (e.g., after-prom
parties, tailgating before athletic events, spring break).
The events schedule should be focused on the most
problematic times of the day, days of the week, and
For example, late-night weekend activities such
as movies or karaoke can be planned for residence halls
where underage drinking has been a persistent problem.
- Developing campus policies to deter underage
drinking. Given that college campuses are popular
settings for underage drinking, it is vital that schoolspecific
strategies be enacted in jurisdictions that include
colleges and universities. These could include clarifying
campus alcohol policies, creating substance-free housing
and dormitories, adjusting class and exam schedules to
deter Thursday-night drinking, and using campus
disciplinary procedures to emphasize the school’s
intolerance for alcohol violations.
Responses That Focus on the Consequences of Underage
- Applying administrative sanctions rather than
criminal penalties. Criminal penalties are meant to serve
as a deterrent. However, severe criminal penalties for
underage drinking-related offenses (e.g., possession,
attempted purchase, use of fake ID) are seldom enforced
and have not proved a big deterrent.
In part, the lack of
widespread, consistent enforcement is due to the burden
on prosecutor and court resources, and a reluctance to
enforce stiff penalties for what is perceived as a minor
offense. Criminal sanctions are often neither swift nor
certain, which undermines their deterrent effect. In
contrast, less severe penalties (e.g., fines, community
service) are more likely to be enforced and may be a
Suspension of a minor’s driver’s license in response to an
alcohol violation–whether or not the offense involved a
vehicle–is the penalty for breaking use/lose laws. For
youths not yet licensed to drive, use/lose laws generally
delay the issuance of a driver’s license for a specified
amount of time. These laws have been linked to a
reduction in vehicle-related alcohol problems,
Use/lose laws have been
extended to cover the use of a fake ID. Many states have
recently increased the penalties for using a fake ID, and
have publicized these changes to ensure that young people
are aware of the consequences for doing so.† Keep in
mind that extending driver’s licensing sanctions to
nondriving offenses almost certainly will increase offenses
such as driving with a suspended or revoked license and
eluding a police officer.
- Applying informal social control. While there have
been no evaluations of informal social control's impact on
underage drinking, we know that young people are often
more powerfully influenced by teachers, coaches, mentors,
peers, and parents than they are by the threat of formal
sanctions. Enlisting the help of responsible adults who
have relationships with young people not only can prevent
expensive criminal justice sanctions that often take some
time to be imposed, but also sends a powerful message
about the community's intolerance for underage drinking.
For example, when police cite high school or college
athletes for underage drinking, notifying their coaches of
the infractions can lead to creative consequences that hold
the offenders accountable but do not saddle them with a
criminal record. Similarly, parents and schools revoke
privileges (e.g., driving, participating in social events) or
impose disciplinary sanctions in response to citations for
underage drinking. Military commanders may discipline
underage soldiers who come into contact with police.
Police may find opportunities to support these forms of
informal social control.
Responses with Limited Effectiveness
- Using school-based education, awareness, or
values-clarification programs. Student orientation,
alcohol awareness weeks, and curriculum infusion are
typical interventions found on high school and college
campuses. The assumption guiding these efforts is that
people make wiser choices if they know the facts about
alcohol. Although this may be true, information alone is
usually insufficient to change behavior.
83 Evaluations of
these stand-alone programs have found no effect on
alcohol use or alcohol-related consequences.
- Launching consequence-focused information
campaigns. Focusing solely on the negative consequences
of underage drinking is unlikely to affect young people's
Not only is drinking likely to be entrenched
in community and peer group norms, but also young
people tend to be risk-takers and to deny their
vulnerability to both short- and long-term consequences.
Most importantly, consequence-focused campaigns rarely
address the motivations for underage drinking–nor do they
offer realistic or practical alternatives.