I don't think things are any better over here in the UK - although under 18s are not allowed to buy alcohol legally, if you go into many young people's pubs (especially Fri/Sat nights) a large number of drinkers will be under-age. There are several late night mini-markets, supermarkets, and off-licences in the area around me, which always seem to have kids hanging around outside asking adult customers to buy alcopops and cigarettes for them. The few times that I've been around the university campus (where I work) when the student's bar throws out doesn't tend to convince me that the majority know anything about "responsible drinking".

When I was at university, we tended to stick to beer and were on very restricted budgets so perhaps getting very inebriated on a regular basis wasn't really an option. Many of our students drive new BMWs so are obviously not as fiscally challenged.