Surgeon General Decries Drinking Law as 'Myth'

By Millicent Lawton

WASHINGTON The/984 federal law that required all states to raise the minimum age for the purchase and public possession of alcohol to 21 is "largely a myth," Surgeon General Antenia C. Novello said last week.

Despite the fact that all 50 states complied under penalty of losing federal highway funds, state drinking laws are "riddled with loopholes, laxity, and lip service," Dr. Novello said at the release here of a new federal study on youths and drinking laws.

The study by the Department of Health and Human Services' inspecter general found that: . State laws contain loopholes that permit underage drinking, including the legality of minors in licensed drinking establishments and the employment by vendors of minors who may sell to other minors. . State and local agencies have difficulty enforcing youth alcohol laws. . Nominal penalties against vendors and minors limit the effectiveness of enforcement. . States have difficulty preventing the...