And this is the reality facing Utah educators and advocates in the fight against underage drinking: Peer pressure is a powerful intoxicant, too, and more young people in the Beehive State are succumbing to the lure.

"This business of the notion that drinking is a rite of passage has just got to go," said Art Brown, president of the Utah chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who is leading a renewed effort to battle underage drinking in Utah with messages delivered to Utah schools, courtrooms and offender programs.

It is true that Utah teens drink less than their peers around the country, but a number of factors have parents, educators and advocates worried:

• The percentage of teens who use alcohol climbed from 17.9 percent to 21 percent between 2001 and 2003, according to the 2003 Utah Public Health Outcome Measures Report issued by the Utah Department of Health in December 2003.

• 14 percent of Utah high school students — about 22,000 kids — have five or more drinks of alcohol in a row, according to a state survey that evaluated behavior during the past 30 days.

• This "binge drinking" behavior costs Utah $36 million a year, in public expenses and medical costs, according to Utah Population and Utah Office of Education figures.

• Illegal underage drinking accounts for up to 20 percent of all alcohol consumed in the United States, according to a recent report from the American Medical Association.

• Drunken driving among teenagers is increasing. In 2001, 362 people between 15 and 20 were arrested for driving under the influence in Utah, according to the Utah Highway Safety Office. That number nearly doubled in 2002, when 668 people of the same age were arrested for DUI. In 2003, 1,256 youth were arrested for DUI.

• Alcohol-related crashes caused by teenage drivers are at an all-time high according to Utah's Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System Intermountain Injury Control Research Center at the University of Utah.

• Although Utah's schools report fewer alcohol and substance abuse violations than last year, 1,357 students were arrested for drinking or drug offenses in 2002-2003, according to a report just released by the Utah State Office of Education.

"I can't explain the recent increase other than a permissive attitude. I've had parents complain that their child is being treated like a criminal when 'all they did was have a couple of beers.' " — Judge Michael Kwan, who runs a special drug and alcohol program in Taylorsville's Justice Court

Kwan also believes underage consumption is on the rise — and it doesn't help that authorities sometimes do not recognize the potential harm and treat the offense with appropriate seriousness, he said.