Natchez &8212; They aren&8217;t driving drunk, but they aren&8217;t necessarily safe either.

Parents who allow their children to drink as long as they don&8217;t drive are ignoring the other major risks associated with underage drinking, Trinity Episcopal Head of School Delecia Carey said.

&8220;Kids really abuse alcohol much more than when they are asked to be responsible for drinking (and finding a ride home),&8221; she said. &8220;They are safe from accidents, but not from alcohol poisoning.&8221;

And, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the health effects of drinking as a teen can be far-reaching. The brain is still developing until age 20, making it susceptible to damage and long-term memory loss that can be caused by alcohol.

People who start drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol dependent, the M.A.D.D. Web site says. And teens are also at risk for serious damage to the digestive system, liver and stomach.

But the potential for more immediate effects is also frightening, Youth Court Judge John Hudson said.

&8220;Teens have a sense of immortality and a sense of adventure,&8221; he said. &8220;Those things working together can be devastating.&8221;

Mixed with judgment-impairing alcohol, teens are more likely to make poor decisions ranging from physical stunts that can cause injury to promiscuous behavior that often leads to pregnancy and STDs, Hudson said.

Alcohol also increases the odds that teens will try drugs, risking possible overdoses or addiction, he said.

At the very least, weekend drinking has an impact on performance in school, principals said.

But more important, it sets the stage that it&8217;s OK to do the wrong thing, Adams County Christian School Headmaster John Gray said.

&8220;Bad decisions limit future opportunities,&8221; Gray said. &8220;You are giving them a path to go down in the future. (Parents) plan a path that a child&8217;s going to use. (Children will say) if she didn&8217;t mind then, she won&8217;t mind now.&8221;

Parental decisions don&8217;t just affect their children either, Gray said. Often parents who allow their children to drink are hosting parties that other people&8217;s children are attending.

Casual drinking leads to casual drug use, which can be just as life threatening, Hudson and Metro Narcotics Cmdr. Cliff Cox said.

Because marijuana is illegal, there are no industry standards, and no one monitors what is actually in the drug. Marijuana is sold by its weight, so much of the time the dealers include non-narcotic substances that are cheaper for them and unrecognizable by the average drug buyer, Cox said.

These substances can either be a waste of money for the buyer or deadly. Just about anything can be chopped up and put into most drugs, from household cleaners that shouldn&8217;t be ingested to rat poison, he said.

Dealers also mix other, more addictive drugs with marijuana in hopes of getting the buyer hooked on those drugs for future sales, Hudson said.

&8220;Marijuana today is much more potent, and with the potency comes increased dangers,&8221; he said.