Mexico's lenient drinking laws are enabling underage UA students to drive south of the border on the weekends to consume alcohol, which has authorities questioning how to curb the activity and prevent minors from driving back intoxicated.

Sen. Robert Cannell, D-Yuma, wants to implement a law requiring minors to receive parental permission before crossing the border, which even he said is "very unlikely to happen."

Cannell's main concern is that minors returning from their night of debauchery in Mexico get back in their cars drunk and drive back to the United States, killing themselves or others in the process.

But Santa Cruz Sheriff Tony Estrada, while acknowledging there is a problem, questioned how Cannell would get such a bill passed.

"It's very noble and well intended but it would be difficult and overwhelming to enforce," Estrada said.

Estrada said the three-year window between 18 to 21 years of age is a major attraction for young people to travel to Mexico.

"Even though they're adults, there's very little we can do to stop them," Estrada said. "These kids are vulnerable to a lot of things when they come back over the border and get into fights or cause accidents on the road."

However, Estrada said there is a law which makes it illegal for anyone under 21 years old to drive intoxicated once back in the United States. He said the driver could be pulled over and then cited or arrested, giving law enforcement more authority over those who think they can get away with drinking illegally in Mexico.

Matt Laskin, an anthropology junior, said going down to Mexico to drink is a rite of passage for underage college students.

"It's like a college ritual here in Tucson. Being only 45 minutes from a place with an 18-year-old drinking age just begs to be taken advantage of," said Laskin, 21. "It's like people in the northern part of the United States who go into Canada to smoke pot."

Evan Orenstein, a finance sophomore, said he has gone to Mexico to drink but always had a designated driver for the ride home.

"It's not worth the risk of getting caught," said Orenstein, 19.

Pima County sheriff Clarence Dupnik said the county's role in restricting minors from consuming alcohol in Mexico is not nearly as strong as laws in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, which is closer to border towns similar to Nogales.

"It doesn't impact us in Pima County that much," Dupnik said.

While Dupnik said he knows kids want to have a good time and have the opportunity to do so in Mexico, he said police officers do not randomly seek out juveniles or college aged kids but rather pull over anyone who appears to come back intoxicated from the border.

Dupnik said if Mexican officials tried to deter underage kids from drinking or implemented a total ban from them coming down on the weekends, there would not be as many fatal or incidental accidents on the road.

"Oh, no doubt about it," Dupnik said. "But I would be shocked if Mexico did anything."

Estrada said Santa Cruz county police officers pick random weekend nights, holiday weekends and spring break as prime times to screen minors coming back from Mexico. Officers ask for their identification and cite them if they are under 21.

"I've seen it happen but if it helps keep drunk drivers off the highway, then that's good," Orenstein said. "Now if they're giving MIPs to drunken passengers, then that's fucked up."

Laskin said as long as people are in Mexico where it is not illegal to drink, police officers should not be worried, but stressed underage kids should act responsibly when driving back.

"Obviously people shouldn't be driving back drunk, that's just plain stupid," Laskin said. "But if you've got a designated driver then there's no problem. You have to be smart about these things."

Jordan Secore, a media arts junior, said he has been to Tijuana once and said driving back drunk or getting in a car with a drunk driver is not worth the possible consequences.

"It's not worth risking my life over," Secore said. "Plus, since I'm 21 now, there's no need to go to Mexico anyway."

Orenstein said he would be in favor of roadblocks and Breathalyzer tests as long as it would only test the drivers as opposed to the passengers in the vehicle.

However, Estrada said distinguishing someone as more than 21 years old is hard because some 21-year-olds look underage while some minors could pass as being older.

"Underage drinking has always been a problem and it's hard to distinguish someone under 18 or even a 19- and 20-year-old from a 21-year-old," Estrada said.

Dupnik also said he had no way of differentiating between college students that are 21 and minors or underage students driving drunk back from Mexico.

Dupnik said ultimately he would want to implement a total ban on unaccompanied minors down to Mexico, a plan that would be overreaching for any border area police force.

Estrada said he is happy to see someone take on the roll of designated driver or having kids get shuttled down to Mexico so long as they are not behind the wheel.

But ultimately Dupnik said curbing or even banning underage drinking would not solve the problem.

"Bottom line, I don't like minors drinking, especially drinking and driving," Dupnik said.