its simple... charge the parents and then it will be their problem to find out who the scumbag who provided the alcohol is and they can be procecuted and then you can rest assured... mommy and daddy will know where their children are next time!

Why doesn't Canada have all these problems with underage drinking? I think the US is making this out to be more of a problem than it actually is.

In a sense, I agree with you politicallyincorrect. The problem is, like with so many others. lack of parental involvement. So many of today's youths have freedem beyond reason. They have a license to kill at 16 years old. Many parents, tired of always transporting their children, help provide the child with a car. It all stems from home. Dual income homes where no one has the energy or time to deal with issues properly. These children (yes, I consider them that when they act like this) have no respect for their parents, each other, or the laws that are in place to protect everyone.

Oncve again another useless task force will come up with some wasted approach to solving underage drinking. Call me cynical but getting information out-that's laughable. Like as a parent I can stop 21 year olds from preying on my kids by selling alcohol or drugs. Yeah right.. Any cop or parent knows that most kids would go to their grave before they rat out a supplier. This is not to mention their safety is at risk from revenge. Possible solution-any under one under the age of 18 caught drinking goes into lockup until the source of alcohol is revealed. All alcohol purchases will be recorded in a data base listing the buyer (maybe those under 30 years old or so would be a compromise)-knowing that purchases are recorded will be a big deterent to being a supplier. Once the source is tracked back to its origin, CRUCIFY the the supplier. As a parent I would love to get my hands on someone supplying alcohol to my kids.

You could always tax alcohol to death like cigarettes or arrest the parents along with the kids. They are after all your responsibility, you chose to have them I don't know why thats so hard to figure out.

Make the drinking age 18 and bring back the draft...Force children to become adults at 18.

If a person can be sent off to war at the age of 18, then they should be allowed to drink. The drinking age was 18 when i was in high school and we did not have the problems that exist now. IF YOU CAN DIE FOR OUR FREEDOM THEN YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE ADULT CHOICES

The problem is that this is NOT a law enforcement issue. This is a social issue, and needs to be addressed as such. If kids were not taken in and booked and given a record, even civil, I would rat out more parties as a parent. But I will NOT be responsible for my kid's friends being taken into custody, booked and breathalyzed. I do NOT believe this is the way to handle it. When I was their age, I did not drink, but my friends who did were all given a ride home in the cruiser and marched into their homes to confront their parents. That was a deterrent.

When I was sixteen, I went on the school ski trip to NH. We were staying overnight in a resort, A few of the kids who drove, went up ahead of time and one of the slower members of the class who was eighteen bought whatever anybody wanted. 'they were observed burying it the snow near the resort and the spot was put under surveillance. One of the kids, who had an advanced admission ans scholarship to Harvard rode along. They were all arrested. The priest who was our chaperon made us all cough up all of our dough to bail these kids out and their parents were called to pick them up at the local jail. 'The rest of us were put on buses and sent home, since we didn't have any money to ski anyway. The kid with advanced admission lost his spot and scholarship because he had been arrested. There is NO telling when this kind of issue will crop up on a background check once these kids have matured and are seeking secure jobs. That one issue between candidates for a position might be the deciding factor. I would be furious at any parent who called the cops on my kid before they called me.

Drunk, throwing up, kids do NOT belong in a police station. If I had my way the cops would be allowed to pick them up and take them to an ER where they will not be released unless a parent shows up. But of course, ERs don't really want drunk trowing kids either, in spite of the fact that vomiting is one of the first signs of serious alcohol toxicity. The brain is not fully developed until our early twenties, so seriously intoxicated teens are in medical danger and should be treated appropriately.

A lot of folks with alcohol related issues started as younger teens. I believe that age may play a greater role in addiction than current thinking suggests. Kids who smoke early have a tougher time quitting than adults, and all those patches say not to used under 18 years age, there is a reason for that. Those patches can kill a heavy smoking teen. The best message is to NOT START, but no, like alcohol, kids are brought in and booked for possession of tobacco. It is a small wonder Maine has more cops. Half of our kids are criminals, technically. We try to legislate teen behavior and all that happens is more kids are in the juvenile system.

I know my view is unpopular. I have friends who would not think twice about calling the police. We have a great police force here, all genuinely caring officers of a variety of ages. They all say the same thing, it never ends. And it won't until we start treating it as societal problem. That is what it is

Raysgirl your comments make sense and while sitting here reading this article I think right from the start this "task force" has a direction termed as "getting the word out about the dangers of underage drinking", and it would surprise me if any teenager even in Maine is not aware of the "dangers" and tragedy in the last few years involving alcohol....I too have seen and know of law enforcements involvment in many of these incidents and agree that the threat of arrest, booking, charging etc. these kids with possession or consumption really in itself does not seem to be much of a deterance to young people and should not be the first course of intervention...Life and family makeups and dynamics are a lot diffrent than when I was a teen and I had no worries about the police punishment for wrong doing because it would have been mild compared to my parents and even coaches punishments if I broke the law....I had two major screw ups as a teen with alcohol and an uncle intervened once and another time it was a neighbor....they saw that I was safe until sobering up and then they took me and the issue to my parents and let's just say (I was never abused just for the record) but the judgements imposed with loss of priviledges for a time, loss of vehicle, "extra chores" around the house, loss of extracurricular activities etc. for a number of weeks was very clear to me just how much making a wrong choice costs....this is a social issue but as with others in the past if family and friends do not control the issue then gov't will step in thru law enforcement....too bad for teen to get a record and put into the judicial system at such an age....:(

freedomfighter........ It is late and I am sleepy so I may have missed it but where does it say that Canada does not have a problem with underage drinking. I am originally from Canada and I can guarantee you that there is indeed a problem with underage drinking in Canada also!

Buddysmom- could you be more cliche?

RaysGirl- yes, let's all continue to sweep this issue under the rug, not provide teens the proper support they need or hold anyone accountable, teens or adults helping them break the law.

Many time Law Enforcement does not charge kids their first time out, they aren't out looking for revenue off from fines, they are doing their job to keep everyone safe, and often times keeping people safe from themselves.

This issue is not about 3-4 teens having 2 beers each while playing pool in a basement, it is the parties where kids are binge drinking every weekend, putting themselves and others at risk for a devastating accident, long term health considerations including addiction, being at a greater risk of being assaulted, physically or sexually.

So many people incorrectly see drinking as a rite of passage of growing up, yet very few people want part of that rite of passage being being held accountable for mistakes. If you make an adult decision, then stand and face the adult consequence. We have many people who have a lot of growing up to do, 16 year olds and 30+ year olds. Stop being friends and start being parents.

Interesting article and comments. From my experience in our area I have found out where the kids are getting the alcohol for the most part. Parents. The kids are getting it from their friends whose parents have no regard for the law and don' t care about it . If people know who their kids hang out with, if they thought about it would know which parents these people are. You know the ones that drink enough themselves and feel "their children are responsible enough not to drink and drive". Disregarding that their kids give that alcohol to their friends and there are many ways to get hurt or die besides driving.

Maine's #1 drug of choice is state sponsored and sanctioned via taxes and legality.

Kids, smoke pot instead.

if you drive without a license in this state you face 3yrs in prison. give alcohol to a minor and get a fine. sounds a little out of wack to me. it's the same with pot. if you get caught selling it to a 10yr old or an 80yr old the fine is the same unless you are in a school zone. I think we should work on actual prison time for suppliers of any drugs to minors. that would slow it down some.

DropKick, I think you misunderstand. I do NOT support "sweeping it under the rug" nor do I believe teen drinking is a rite of passage. It is a very serious issue. But I do not believe that the legal system is the way to deal with the issue. The teen brain is not fully developed and they lack experience. Many think that "partying" is drinking until you drop and this IS dangerous. That was why I suggested taking drunk,vomiting teens to an ER, as vomiting is one sign of alcohol toxicity. When I was a senior in high school, a very close friend drowned in his own vomit, after a night of drinking.

Getting the message out is dangerous, as PabMainer has indicated, is redundant because our kids do know it is dangerous. My teens friends have "designated" watcher, i.e. a teen who agrees not to drink but be there to turn drunk, vomiting victims, on their sides or provide other supervision. They do a pretty good job of policing themselves. Before I moved to Maine, if I saw drunk teens in the center of town, I would drive them home to their parents. Back then I had much younger teen siblings so I knew most of the teens in town and where they belonged.

So I am well aware of the dangers, the issues etc. but I do not believe in handling our most important assets in the justice system. Thirty hours of community service in lieu of fine is nothing to them. If they are going to be punished by the legal system, I believe it takes power away from the parents. Teen drinking is a social issue that has been around since booze was legalized and we tried many years ago to legislate it, but that has NOT worked. I think it is time for law enforcement to work WITH us, not against it.

My child was at a home and was not drinking for her own specific reasons, when another problem arose, and a police officer forced his way into the home and took several teens into custody. I was called in the middle of the night to pick up my child, who chose not to breathalyze, for reasons having nothing to do with drinking and she was issued a summons for possession by a minor even though nothing was found in the room where she was sleeping at 3am and routed out of bed. The officer left others behind because he had no idea how many kids were in the house. He told me he thought she was fine, but when she refused to breathalyze, issued her a summons anyway. He made that statement in front of other parents, and when I asked why she was there, he said he felt it was not safe for her to remain there. Again in front of witnesses, but that never turned up in the official report. I am not accusing the officer of lying, I don't think that was the case, but I think that omission from the report was likely intentional. That said, this officer goes out of his way to know every kid and teen in our town and he DOES CARE. However, once he finds these kids, he has no discretion in taking them home or booking them, because the law mandates that they be taken in. Thus, that is why I would never call the police for teen drinking. I have intervened with many kids, taken them, made their parents aware of the situations, but I do NOT want to be responsible for "putting a kid in the system". These are civil charges and can crop up for college checks, background checks for employment etc. Because they are civil vs. criminal means they don't necessarily disappear when the kids turn 18.

My bottom line is, we have legislated teen drinking for decades and it does NOT work. It is time to take another approach.

Raysgirl: As usual, I appreciate your thoughtful comments. You make some good points. My sons are in their 20's now (youngest is 25) so we have been through the teen years.....somehow we survived it!!

I believe that , of course, parents have to be very involved and not "sweep things under the rug" ( the same as you do) but I also can understand someone's reluctance to involve young people in the justice system, before other options are attempted first, if at all possible.. It usually does not turn out very well when they "get in the system" at a young age (not talking about real extreme and dangerous cases of course.) It just often seems to snowball when they get into that system too soon and make things even much worse. It , as you pointed out, can sometimes follow them and lead to more trouble, and become almost a self-fulfilling prophesy. Of course, each situation has to be evaluated according to the circumstances. Parents really do have to step up more, stop enabling sometimes, model good behavior themselves (that is major) . I cannot believe when adults supply liquor to their underage children and their friends for parties,etc. , (and on top of that misstep, are not even present sometimes.)

Maybe you should sit down with you local officer, deputy, or trooper and find out about what they see and deal with. Law enforcement has rules and policies they have to follow. Due to the very good possibility be being sued or disciplined for not doing their job they can't turn a blind eye to a violation. Ask them what kind of responses they get when they call parents and tell them where their child is, what is going on and what they may have consumed. You may be shocked about the answers they get. The police enforce the laws passed by your representatives. The fines are set by the court and any fines collected go to the courts. The police don't make money off tickets. There is no incentive to write more tickets to make more money because the fine money doesn't go to the police, just to the courts. Hampden recently lost a student believed to be related to alcohol and drugs. You ask his parents if anyone should be charged in these type of crimes. How would you feel is you knew about a party but didn't want to "rat" someone out and someones child dies as a result. How would you feel if you child died or was injured because of underage drinking and a friend or neighbor knew what was going on but said "kids will be kids". The community has to step up and say what is allowed and what is not and then take action when needed. If parents send the signal given out by parents is it is no big deal and that no one should be told about it then the kids will pick up on that and handle it the same way. Our kids learn from our deeds a lot more than our words. This is one parents thoughts, I hope I am not alone.

All this "task force" is doing is pushing kids further into the woods and that much further from help if they need it. I would much rather know where my kids are, what they are doing and who they are with than have them go behind my back and have something happen. Under age drinking has always been happening and will always happen period. I told my kids, Look, I was in high school once too and I know what goes on, so just be honest with me so I know where you are how you're getting there and how you're getting home, and if you find yourself in a bad situation you call me, and I will come get you, no questions asked no punishments because being safe is the most important thing. They will drink regardless so you might as well make sure they are safe about it, know what to do in bad situations, how to make smart choices, and how to be responsible. They are going to college soon where we cant hold their hands so they need to learn how to be responsible and be an adult. Im not condoning underage drinking, Im encouraging good decisions to get kids home safe and let them learn while we are still there to help when they need us.