I read an interesting Washington Post article. A seasonal report, it talked of angst among some Washington party hosts for an emerging social dilemma. Their worry -- the host etiquette for the growing population of party attendees who don't drink alcohol?

Imagine that, a social gathering in which adults don't drink. What is a self-respecting host to do?

I think we can rest confidently in the knowledge that, unlike most problems abounding in our nation's capital, a responsible bipartisan solution to this perplexing problem will be found. My worry, though, is the far more elusive challenge for adults finding a solution for the alcohol problems facing our children. How much longer will we ignore finding that solution?

As another year winds to a close, we look with anticipation to the year ahead. Underage drinking is an adult problem, and it's long past time for responsible adult action.

It puzzles me when some adults defend teen drinking. Remembering their childhood and assuming teen practices remain unchanged, some embrace this as a mythical "rite of passage" to adulthood. Yet few adults define their place in life by the ability to drink alcohol.

Why would they? After all, alcohol is an addictive drug, with many experts contending it's our greatest drug problem. Associated with a broad range of serious health problems for young and old alike, for the still-developing body and brain of youths, alcohol is damaging to every cell.

The Richmond Post-Dispatch once described alcohol as "nothing less than poison for the teen brain." Why, then, would any adult knowingly defend or enable a dangerous teen practice so high-risk and verifiably unhealthy?

Some misguidedly proclaim their support for the more "enlightened" European teen drinking model. But the sad reality is that teen drinking there is a continental disaster, with consequences so severe that many there urge increasing the drinking age. Compared to Europe, underage drinking here is less abusive.

No, the only beneficiary of these uninformed notions is the alcohol industry -- our children certainly don't benefit. This industry is able to profit, with adult support, despite the serious health consequences from its product. Make no mistake, the alcohol industry, like the tobacco industry before it, is well-aware of the serious documented health threat associated with alcohol use.

But unlike the tobacco industry, health concerns are only part of the harmful costs, personally and financially, associated with underage drinking.

Teens don't benefit from adult tolerance of underage drinking. To the contrary, studies find that parents with relaxed attitudes about teen drinking increase the likelihood their teen will be an abusive drinker. Parents with zero-tolerance for underage drinking, on the other hand, increase the likelihood their child will not be an excessive drinker. Which choice will you make for your child?

The new year will be a great time to join in the effort to prevent underage drinking in our community. As said so powerfully by the U.S. surgeon general, "We can no longer ignore what alcohol is doing to our children." What will you do in 2010 and beyond to prevent underage drinking?

Ronald E. Bogle is a retired Superior Court judge and works with the Coalition for Alcohol and Drug Free Teenagers.