Shutting the Tap on Teen Drinking

By Traci Toomey, M.P.H., Ph.D.
(Nov. 20, 2002; Updated Oct. 20, 2005)

Buying a beer keg for a party where underage youth (under the minimum legal drinking age of 21) will be present is now more risky in Minnesota . As of August 2002, stores are required to register the name, address, and driver's license number of persons buying a keg. When a keg party with underage drinkers takes place, police officers will be able to check the unique number on the keg and match it with the buyer. He or she could potentially be charged with a gross misdemeanor for providing alcohol to those not of age to legally drink.

This law continues Minnesota 's leadership in reducing youth access to alcohol. In addition, the state now has added penalties, including felony charges, for adults who have provided alcohol to kids who, in turn, caused harm to themselves or others. Our Legislature recognizes, as do we researchers in the University of Minnesota 's School of Public Health , that underage drinking is a community problem.

In 2004, nearly 2,000 Minnesota teens were convicted of driving while impaired (DWI) and 30 teens were killed in alcohol-related car crashes. Alcohol-related crashes, with their damage to property, injuries, and even fatalities, typically top the list of the consequences of teenage drinking. With this in mind, some parents may feel the best protection for kids is keeping their partying kids away from cars.

But drinking and driving is not the only risky behavior in which they might engage. Alcohol has also been linked to unplanned sex, which can lead to sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies. Alcohol can also loosen the usual constraints on violence and lead to sexual assaults, fights, and suicides. Problems at school or in family life also can be made worse by alcohol. So taking away kids' car keys does not remove them from the dangers of underage drinking.

Many children start drinking with alcohol at home or in their friends' homes. Those who keep alcohol at home might want to lock it up and talk about their decision with other parents. If on the other hand, parents decide to give their child a drink, which they may legally do in their own home in Minnesota , know that children who drink with their parents may drink more outside the home, too.

Some may lean toward allowing their children to drink at home because, as people often say to me, "In Europe, people let their kids drink at home and they don't have problems." However, it is a myth that European countries do not have problems with alcohol use, including youth drinking. For example, binge drinking among youth is very common in England , and France has one of the highest rates of cirrhosis of the liver in the world.