" What a lot of people don't understand about the drinking age being 21 are the medical reason behind it. A person's brain and brain cells are still developing until they are approximately 21 years old. The alcohol intake can keep them producing to the utmost capability. And as far as these people being "entrapped by law enforcement" I disagree. Everyone should be carded no matter how young or old they look. "

" The ISP strikes again... Ignorant Stupid People "

" This one reminds me of Highway patrolmen Hiding and spying around town for seat belt infractions instead of patrolling the highways and interstates for speeders, reckless drivers, and whatever. Seeing them lurking (hiding) around town tells me Blogo should lay a few of them off cause they obviously number to many. I say leave local law enforcement to the locals and to the sheriffs department out in the county. "

" When I read something like this, I can't help but think, doesn't this border on entrapment? I mean, these employees are being induced to commit an offense that they might otherwise not have committed. I mean for the most part, I'm sure there was no intent to break the law, nor was there knowledge that they were doing so.

It's not like selling drugs, where there surely is intent and knowledge of breaking the law.

I used to bartend for a living during the last decade, and I can tell you, from experience, it's tough to spot an under-ager sometimes. You have the infamous, "All I have is a ticket routine", the "you know my cousin, he'll vouche for me" routine, and of course someone using an id that isn't theirs but looks very similiar.

The bottom line is, some people over 21 look like they're under 16, and some 16 year olds look like they're 30.

I think if you are going to prosecute someone selling alcohol, they should have a photo of the undercover, along side photos of several people over and under the legal age, and have the jury decide how old each person is. If all members of the jury rate the undercover as under 21, then "guilty".

I've seen signs that read, "If you look under 35, we will card." Ok, so all you have to do is look older than 35? Heh, I bet I can get a 16 year old boy who is able to grow some facial hair, put him in a beer-truck delivery uniform, rub some grease and grime on him, and I bet he can get served in at least 60% of the places he tries. Send him in the next day all cleaned up, and in his normal outfit, I bet he gets carded at nearly every place.

So, if they card him the 2nd go 'round, wouldn't that mean they are trying to comply with the law?

In closing, I ask you, what are the defining characteristics of a 35 year old? We're asking people to make judgements that everybody interprets different. "

" Kudos to the State Police! Nail these businesses to the wall as well as the emplooyees who sold it. Nothing good comes from alcohol. If a few alcohol peddlers go out of business, who cares? It will just be better for everyone. Personally I'd like to see much higher fines. "

" I'm not defending the employees, but I used to work at a liquor store while I was in college. I fortunately survived a few stings, but some of my coworkers did not. These kids that are underage that the state police use look like they're 40, not under 21. "

" I agree that the civil service age should be raised. Most 18 year olds that sign up for the military do it for college reasons, without thinking through what they are really doing. Notice that I said MOST, not all. Secondly, I think that the minors should be held responsible for drinking, but in this case, the ISP usually sends someone in to try and purchase the alcohol. It is part of the sting to see who sells to minors. And yes, those that do sell to minors are breaking the law and should be held accountable. They know to ask for I.D. when someone asks to buy liquor, so they know what they are risking. Let's stop defending our youth when they do wrong and make them accountable for their actions. That is the first step to growing up and becoming an adult! "

" SimpleLogic

Lowering the drinking age to 18 is crazy. We should probably raise the voting and civil service age to 21 to stop the stupid "if your old enough to die you should be old enough to drink" argument" Todays 21 year old's have been babied their whole loves and are less mature than 18 year old's were just 20 years ago. Raise the driving age to 18 and the voting and civil service age to 21. "

" I guess you have rich kids because mine would not be able to come up with $2000 by themselves. "

" I have 2 kids, strike3, one of which is 18. I have spent all of his life explaining to him about the risks and responsbilities of life. He has consumed alchohol, and he has smoked pot. he hid it from me very well. With that being said, I would have NO problem whatsoever if the law had caught him, and fined him $2,000, because I as a good parent would have made his butt pay the fines, NOT ME.

Good Parenting does not equate to being responsible for their expenses incurred when they break a law. It is the parents' obligation to make the underager pay 'their' price for the risk 'they' took.

There is no 'fantasy land' to that... just simple logic.

Fines do work... they worked for me when I was underage. My father made me pay them. I mowed yards, and did odd jobs over a period of time to pay them off.

Parenting does play a role, but individual responsibility, and character development are more important.

Prisons will never be empty.

Maybe we should just outlaw alcohol, and put people in prison for possessing it.

After all it's what our government does for the people who consume pot. A majority of the people in our prisons are drug related. Maybe we should see if we can build more prisons and add all of the drinkers to the prison population too?

Maybe that's better than increasing fines?

You think? "

" Simple Logic do you have any kids? Raising fines for underage drinking will only get deeper into parents back pocket. The kids that are out drinking and partying are not to concerned about the trouble that they cause or get into or they wouldnt do it period. This all falls on parenting not government laws. Punishment is no deterent or prisons would not be overcrowded. Maybe if we raise all of the fines in the USA we could shut down all of our prisons. CALL ME FROM FANTASY LAND WHEN YOU GET THERE!!! "

" I completely agree with SimpleLogic. The person committing the crime - obtaining liquor illegally - is who should bear the punishment and it should be severe enough to be a deterrent. I'm tired of the mentality in this country that it is always someone's fault - no personal accountability. "

" In my opinion, the legal age for alcohol consumption should be lowered from 21 to 18. If a person the age of 18 can go into the armed forces, and risk their life to defend this country, they should be allowed to drink. That will stop a major part of the 'underage' drinking issues.

Additionally, if someone is under 18, and caught drinking, raise the fine to $2,000, no exceptions. If they have a second offense, make it $3,000. Make the Third offense $5,000 and 1 year of community service.

The only way to solve the problem with underage people drinking is to make it so dangerous to the wallet that the majority of the underagers will think ALOT harder before taking a drink and possibly getting caught.

I'm tired of seeing the liquor establishments taking the lions' share of the damage from these underage drinkers.

The smoking law hurt the industry bad enough, now the government has to take even more by squeezing fines out of the industry for something that should be addressed on the underage side, moreso than the establishment side. "

" Good job ISP! These so called "businesses" should be shut down immediately. "

" I guess if you're underage and want to buy liquor, DuQuoin is the place to go! "