MARIETTA - Think your teenager is just drinking a soda? Maybe. But it could be a cocktail of soda and cough syrup in that can.

It's not a surprise that kids younger than 21 commonly consume alcohol. And yes, underage drinking was happening back in the day, when today's parents were teenagers.

But Penny Norton, a nationally recognized speaker on the perils of underage drinking and binge drinking by young adults, told attendees at an April public forum in Marietta that the drinking environment kids face now is dramatically altered.

"What goes on today in terms of how kids drink, what they drink, when they drink and the quantities they drink, and the opportunities they have to drink is completely different. This is not Annette Funicello running up and down the beach. It's a whole different dynamic," Norton said.

"Today, beer is available in 12-22-30-40-64-ounce containers. So when a kid says, 'I only had one,' define one," Norton said. "And the sweet tasting alco-pops, as they're referred to today, the pre-mixed liquor drinks such as wine coolers, those taste sweet to who? Are you and I as adults the ones going to the grocery store and buying those? Statistically, no. It's the underage drinking population that's drinking the alco-pops. Why? Because it tastes sweet. They didn't have those when I was a kid."

Alcohol is now more readily available to kids, from a variety of sources, she said, and youths drink often.

The general mindset of underage drinkers today, she said, is that "you drink hard, and you drink fast. You don't drink for sociability, you drink to get intoxicated. ... And the more you drink on a regular basis, the more you have to drink to get the same effect."

Norton, the founder of a Michigan-based nonprofit group called FACE that promotes responsible, legal alcohol use, outlined some ways parents can discourage teen drinking. Among them: establish consistent expectations; set curfews and enforce them; refuse to buy alcohol for anyone younger than 21; and refuse to allow people younger than 21 to drink in your home or on your property.

Parents, schools and police all must set policies against underage drinking and consequences for it - and then follow through consistently in each and every case, regardless of who the kid's parents are or what sport the kid plays or any other excuse, Norton said.

The Cobb Alcohol Task Force, a coalition of people, businesses and organizations that challenges adults to reduce underage drinking and youth binge drinking, sponsored the forum, conducted on the campus of Southern Polytechnic State University. About 100 people attended, including Cobb Police Chief George Hatfield.

Cathy Finck is the coordinator of the task force and has worked with the group since its inception a decade ago. Her group's mission, she said, is not prohibition.

"We are for the legal use and sale of alcohol - which includes the fact that it's not legal for those under age 21," said Finck, who lives in northeast Cobb. "Our focus is to limit youth access to alcohol, but also to promote responsible use of alcohol by adults over age 21."

The group focuses on three ways of doing that. The first is enforcing laws to reduce illegal sales of alcohol to minors. Just this week, young volunteers worked with Marietta Police in performing compliance checks at restaurants and liquor stores. Of 24 businesses checked, 19 were in compliance. Only five places sold alcohol to the minors.

The group's second focus is implementing policies to deter youths from using alcohol - and deter adults from providing alcohol to minors.

They are advocates of "social host" legislation, which would hold property owners liable when alcohol is consumed by minors on their property. Ultimately that could mean that if the police bust a party where teens are drinking at your house, you could be billed for every minute the police are on your property resolving the situation - and for as many police officers as are needed.

The third focus is changing social norms that glamorize drinking and binge drinking.

"There are serious and harmful consequences of both underage drinking and youth binge drinking," Finck said. "People tend to think only about the drinking and driving. But there's the tendency for high-risk sex. And about half of Cobb's juvenile crime is alcohol-related, whether it be fights or vandalism and that sort of thing."

Finck has worked in the field of substance abuse, treatment and prevention for 20 years, and she is the mother of two adult children.

"My kids are six years apart, and I remember somewhere between their high school careers that they had known 11 members of their peer group that had died of alcohol-related causes. And I thought, oh my gosh, I can't say that my high school experience was like that," she said. "That got my attention to look specifically at the alcohol issue."

For more information on the Cobb Alcohol Task Force, go to www.cobbat.org