No drinking under 21 --- no 'buts' about it.

                   After placing my items on the belt at a small grocery store in New Jersey, I was surprised to look up and see a teenage girl in front of me getting handcuffed by police.  The employee at the cash register was herself a teenager, and when I asked her what was going on, she told me the girl was buying alcohol and, "Well, it's against the law."
                   It is against the law.  The legal age for drinking is 21 ---- no ifs, ands, or buts.  Well, maybe one  "but" : In New Jersey, parents can serve alcohol to their own teens in their own homes.  In Pennsylvania, there are no exceptions.
                  One of my patients got drunk at a high schol party and was taken to the hospital and then the police department.  Not being allowed to remain the captain of her sports team was the least of the problems that ensued.
                   Parents are always legally liable when their children drink to the point of drunkenness or become ill.  And parents are never permitted to serve alcohol to anyone else's children.
                   Zero tolerance for DUI
                   All states have zero-tolerance laws for teen drinking and driving.  If drivers under 21 are caught driving with any alcohol in their blood, they will be charged with driving under the influence.
                   Another patient of mine began crying when she told me about her 18-year-old brother, who died in a motor-vehicle accident.  He had been drinking and driving.
                   Drinking Kills
                   Why are the laws so strict?
                   Traffic crashes are the No.1 cause of death for teenagers in the United States, and 31 percent of those young drivers had been drinking.
                   Sometimes parents are part of the problem.  A survey of youths ages 13 to 18 by the American Medical Association found:
                   40 percent said it was easy to obtain alcohol from a friend's parent.
                   25 percent attended a party where minors were drinking in front of parents.
                   I heard about a group of teen camp counselors who went to the Shore for the weekend and got drunk on the beach.  They were arrested, and their parents had to drive down to to face their teens' consequences.
                  Breaking the law has consequences.  Teenagers caught buying, drinking, possessing, or transporting alcohol may be fined, jailed, and have their driver's licenses suspended.  Parents who sell or furnish alcohol to minors may also be fined and jailed.
                  A juvenile criminal record isn't automatically erased.  When a teen is charged with underage drinking in Pennsylvania, for example, the court will keep his or her record for 25 years unless an expungement is granted, and police records may be kept even longer.  That may make getting a job more difficult.
                  "Mistakes happen," but this kind should be prevented.
                  My advice : Share this information with your teenagers and other adults.
                  We all need to know the law.