Erbio: Laws drive teen drinking underground

Diana Erbio is a freelance writer who lives in Suffolk County.

Last month, a Dix Hills couple was arrested and charged with violating Suffolk County's social host law. The pair had held a party in April and, tragically, a 16-year-old girl who had been there was killed later that night as she ran across the Northern State Parkway.

Social host laws exist in more than 150 cities and counties nationwide, including both Nassau and Suffolk. In Suffolk, if adults knowingly allow anyone under 21 to drink alcohol in their home, they are subject to fines and/or jail time -- even if they didn't supply the alcohol.

But will arresting or fining adults whose homes have been the site of underage drinking actually stop kids from drinking or the tragedies that result?

Social host laws, coupled with the drinking age of 21, may actually make the problem worse, by driving teen alcohol use further underground.

Parents who know they risk punishment if minors are found to have been drinking on their property may well be less likely to open their homes up to their teenage children for parties or just hanging out. Even parents with a strict no-drinking policy may be afraid to chance it, because all it would take is for one teen to disobey and get caught. The most troubling possibility is that the law may be putting teens in cars to do their drinking.

Studies show that since 1984 -- when, to gain access to federal highway funds, states were compelled to raise their drinking age to 21 -- deaths caused by alcohol-related traffic accidents have gone down significantly. Advocates of the higher drinking age say it's what's behind the decline in fatalities. But others say increased use of seat belts and air bags over the same time is responsible for the sharp decrease.

Former Middlebury College president John McCardell speaks frequently about the possible risks of the higher drinking age. He is the founder of Choose Responsibility, a nonprofit organization that supports a fresh approach to the problem of reckless and excessive drinking by young people.

McCardell says many kids under 21 continue to drink, often excessively, and notes a rise in binge-drinking-related deaths in that age group. The higher drinking age only pushes younger drinkers out of the public scene. Underground drinking may be more dangerous than public alcohol consumption, because there is no adult supervision -- there can't be, since so many local social host laws would punish any adult who tried to supervise any party with alcohol.

As the mother of a 20-year-old, I can tell you that I worry more about irresponsible drinking than I do about the age at which it is legal. And I can't believe that our laws allow my daughter to vote, serve in the military and even get married -- but not drink a glass of Champagne at her own wedding.

In an effort to keep our young people safe, we may be contributing to more dangerous practices. Teens afraid of getting caught breaking the law may be less likely to call authorities if someone passes out while drinking. Such was the case in a story publicized on "60 Minutes" in 2009, where Boulder, Colo., Police Chief Mark Beckner related the alcohol-poisoning death of an 18-year-old during a fraternity initiation; no call for help was made. Another potentially dangerous consequence is that those under 21 may draw the conclusion that, since alcohol and other substances of a pharmaceutical nature are off limits, all are equal. But drinking a can of beer, with its alcohol content printed on the side, is quite different from popping a random pill purchased on the street or taken from a parent's medicine cabinet

It's time to take a second look at the ways we try to restrict young people from drinking. Simply setting a higher age limit hasn't been the answer -- and neither is fining parents for taking a chance by opening their homes to their teenage children and friends.