There are legal risks involved in underage drinking, and one University area neighborhood association wants to make certain residents know that.
Danny Hernandez, president of the University Heights neighborhood association, said they plan to use education to try and reduce underage drinking in the University area.
"There are all kinds of problems with drinking, and they are multiplied if people are drinking underage," he said.
The neighborhood association, together with APD, UNMPD and UNM's Campus Office of Substance Abuse and Prevention, designed fliers with tips on making safe choices when throwing a party and on being a good neighbor. He began distributing them in the area last December.
The fliers also point out the penalties and fines for underage drinking. They were in response to numerous violent incidents involving alcohol in the UNM area, Hernandez said.
Jill Yeagley, program manager for COSAP, said the efforts are part of a larger project to change the habits of students who drink, which should be supported by city laws.
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Area residents agree the fliers are raising awareness in the community.
"When I was 21, I was a lot more reckless because I wasn't aware of what could happen to me," said Brandon Barrera, a UNM senior. "The door hangers are nice because they let underage drinkers know."
However, he said it is crazy to expect underage drinkers to make the best choices of their lives while underage.
"You are asking someone to grow up before they're grown up," Barrera said. "It's hard for underage people to be responsible about anything."
Many area residents said underage drinking has become an acceptable right of passage and people are too tolerant of it.
"It is a University area - on campus, at the bars, wherever - and I just think it is part of being a college town," said Charles Barber, a UNM senior.
UNM Police Department Cmdr. James Daniels said he doesn't think underage drinking is as bad as everyone makes it seem.
"The situation is the law stipulates 21, that's it," he said.
But what some residents don't realize is that underage drinking not only destroys others' property but also brings down the quality of life around them, Hernandez said.
The neighborhood association is also looking to red tag houses frequently visited by police for underage drinking. The tags, similar to those used by the city mainly with drug houses, would allow the city to specifically target residences, Hernandez said.
"At this point, it is more of a wish than a reality, although everything is in place to allow it to happen today," he said.
The labels would place responsibility in the hands of landlords because with enough drinking citations, property can be seized by the city.
"We don't approve of it and we run a straight ship here," said Don Keith, owner of Columbian Apartments, just south of UNM. "We give them a seven-day notice that they must quit or get moving."
