The Butler County Drug and Alcohol Program had important messages for parents and teens — indeed, everyone — at a town hall meeting Wednesday at Slippery Rock University.

Too bad only about 30 people chose to attend the meeting, which focused on underage drinking.

Considering the low attendance, it is to be hoped that those people who were present make the important commitment to spread the messages from the session to people who didn't attend.

People in this county need to be reminded of the scope of the underage drinking problem that exists here, as well as ways of addressing the problem. For example, many parents overlook the ways they themselves contribute to the underage drinking problem.

The Drug and Alcohol Program hosted a similar meeting March 31 in Sarver, attracting about 100 people. But even that attendance was low, when factored against the scope of the problem that exists.

One of the reminders issued at the Slippery Rock session came from District Attorney Rich Goldinger, who stressed the importance of parents educating their children about the dangers of drinking — at an earlier age than they might have done years ago.

"It needs to start at home," Goldinger said. "Kids need to know the dangers and the consequences of drinking, and that would be a big deterrent if parents started to do that more often."

Meanwhile, although most people know Dale Pinkerton as a longtime Butler businessman and now, as chairman of the Butler County commissioners, Pinkerton's life also included a stint as an ambulance crew member.

"I have seen three teenagers killed because of drinking and driving, and I saw two children killed because of other people drinking and driving," he told the Slippery Rock meeting audience.

"There isn't anything worse than going to a scene and seeing a child who had a long life ahead of them lose that because someone was drinking and driving," Pinkerton added.

An excellent point was made by Bill Halle of the Grace Youth and Family Foundation.

"One of the problems is that the system is crisis-oriented," Halle said. "We deal with kids who have been using for quite some time; we need to get them at the beginning of the road to treat the problem earlier."

People who think they don't need to hear the messages imparted at sessions such as those last week aren't immune to becoming a victim of an underage drinker. Likewise, underage drinking could already have infiltrated their families and it might not be long until they are forced to deal with it.

Sessions such as the Drug and Alcohol Program-sponsored meetings are valuable in terms of learning what to look for and then the options available for confronting the problem.

Teens also need to hear about ways to respond to drinking by peers and the peer pressures exerted toward getting them using or abusing booze as well.

At least one business in the city of Butler can attest to the underage drinking issue and what some young people will do to obtain alcoholic beverages. That business experienced several incidents in recent months in which young people entered the business, grabbed six- or 12-packs of beer from a cooler and ran out — while the business was open and customers present.

Not only did the incidents attest to the early-age drinking problem but also showed how some young people are willing to risk arrest and a criminal record — one that could have negative ramifications throughout the rest of their lives.

That so few people attended these two meetings is indicative of an attitude that illegal drugs are the problem to be more concerned about now.

However, as Brown, of the Slippery Rock Police Department, pointed out, alcohol is the number one drug used among teens.

Many more people should become plugged in to the underage drinking problem and acknowledge the importance of them becoming part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.

Unfortunately, the attendance at the two sessions last week provided little hope of a major commitment to such an initiative.

Nonetheless, the Drug and Alcohol Program should continue its mission to spread its messages.