agree with all that has been said so far. This may seem like a tangent, but it is related.

When I was growing up in NJ, a friend of mine hosted a New Year's Eve party. Her parents' rule was that kids who came could drink, but they had to get it themselves and once they came in the door, all keys were confiscated until the morning. No exceptions. The fact that there were lots of adults in the next room kept things from getting out of hand and they seemed to accept a certain reality that many high school students were going to find a way to drink, so at least keep them safe. One could argue that had they not done this, some of those kids would not have had alcohol that night. On the other hand, those that did would be much more likely to engage in more dangerous behavior.

However, I can't imagine doing something similar for my daughter for fear that I could get arrested, lose my house, etc. The focus has shifted from safety to punishment.

I've seen similar shifts in college. In my fraternity, I was the 'Risk Manager'. My name was on certain docs as one of the responsible parties who could have gone to jail if something really bad happened. We tried very hard to make sure that didn't happen. We always had sober people patrol the house. We escorted people home or found them a safe place to stay. We had a relationship (sometimes tenuous) with campus security. Over time, the university cracked down on what may have been one of the safest places to party. Instead, off-campus parties and those in dorms without the oversight just got bigger.

There are likely lots of causes, from the need of politicians to appear 'tough' on 'bad things' to a cultural focus on extreme vs. moderation. As has been mentioned, there is money to be made in protecting the status quo.

I do believe that there is hope and that attitudes are changing. I think about how often I heard, 'That's gay' or some variant growing up. Awareness has diminished that significantly. 'That's retarded' was a common phrase in my early vocabulary until I met my wife in college whose sister is. I drank growing up, and we always had a DD.

I encourage you to get involved with the MADD community. Working with people who have a similar passion to make the world better is a profoundly positive experience.