"Fountains of beer" and other drugs are common at many parties attended by area youth and underage adults, according local teen-agers.

Although many statistics point out the detrimental effects alcohol can have on the under-21 crowd, some at a gathering Saturday in Bonner Springs said nearly all the parties they attend include alcohol. If that weren't enough to worry some of their parents, those at the party also said sometimes other drugs are involved including marijuana, acid and other hallucinogens.

Tamra Stephens, an 18-year-old from Bonner Springs, said that like most teen-agers, she enjoys going to parties and mingling with friends.

Tamra Stephens, left, and Rosemary Fesenmeyer talk with Jason Haggerty at a party over the weekend in Bonner Springs. The group of friends played cards and mingled with others at the party.

"(I go) a lot," Stephens said. "We throw a lot, too."

Stephens said most of the parties she goes to are not chaperoned, but most do include a mixture of alcohol and drugs.

"Mostly just pot and alcohol, unless someone just got paid," Stephens said. "Then, there may be some acid."

Although teen-agers using drugs and alcohol are at a higher risk of being injured or killed in an accident, it doesn't detour some youth from attending parties

A 20-year-old Bonner Springs resident, who did not want to be identified, said he has never been to a party that had any hard drugs, but admits that there is an abundance of alcohol at most parties and "fountains of beer" are not uncommon. He said he attends parties about once every month.

Many parties start as small gatherings of friends, but quickly develop into larger, more raucous crowds when others get word that a party is going on.

"I would go as far as to say it was completely out of hand," the unidentified 20-year-old man said. "I've seen someone pull a knife on someone, but no one got hurt, and it wasn't around here."

Sixteen-year-old Rosemary Fesenmeyer of Edwardsville said she likes attending parties about once a week. Of the parties she has attended, she estimates about 40 percent of the time, parents or other adults acted as chaperones for the event.

Still, Fesenmeyer said most of the parties do involve drugs and alcohol, and underage partygoers. The main party drugs are marijuana and alcohol, she said.

Like others at the party, Fesenmeyer said she doesn't think any of the parties she has attended ever gotten out of control.

Despite a 22-year-old Kansas City, Kan., man dying during a party at a Bonner Springs house last week many partygoers attended a gathering in the city a week later. Jason Carmack, was killled when he fell down a flight of stairs. Police ruled his death an accident.

Statistics show that attending a party is not as dangerous as leaving one.

According to a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, young drivers make up 6.7 percent of the total driving population, but account for 13 percent of the intoxicated drivers in fatal crashes. In another study by the NHTSA, researchers found that during a typical weekend, an average of one teen-ager an hour dies in a car accident. Of those accidents, almost 50 percent of the crashes involved alcohol.

Of the 537 drivers who died on Kansas roadways during 1999, 186 (34.7 percent) of the accidents were related to alcohol, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving statistics.

The statistics show that although walking home when intoxicated substantially decreases the risk of being killed, it is still no sure thing. About 37 percent of pedestrians 16 years and older who died in 1994 accidents had a blood alcohol content of .10 or more. The legal limit for alcohol content in Kansas is .08.