TWO NATIONS TEAM UP TO TAME TIJUANA

Mexico, U.S. target underage drinking by Americans gone south for a Blast

TIJUANA, Mexico -- Like a siren's call, the throbbing disco music wound
its way down Tijuana's tourist strip, captivating the young revelers on the
prowl for some midnight action.

And heed it they did, hurrying down the boulevard aptly named Avenida
Revoluci6n on a rebel quest to drink and dance until dawn.

They shrugged off new club crackdowns by TUuana police, pushed aside rumors
concerning the spring break death of an Orange County girl who had been
drinking in a border bar, and scorned the possibility of damaging cultural
relations with their drunken demeanor.

It was Wednesday night - College Night - a time to howl between shots of
tequila and buckets of beer in the bowels of the 30-odd clubs and bars.

"It's crazy here," crowed Laura Harris, 20, a student at Riverside
Community College in California, who eagerly tipped her head back for a
"popper" - a shot of tequila poured down the throat by one of the mobile
bartenders - inside one of the city's most popular discos, Club A.

"It's not like the U.S., where you can't do anything," Harris said.
"There's not too many rules here about drinking, about having fun, about
getting crazy."

But there are rules, authorities on both sides of the border insist and
they're about to get tougher. No longer, authorities warn, will Tijuana's
drinking age limit of 18 - three years below California's limit of 21 - be
accepted as a pass for American youths to walk on the wild side.

Unprecedented cooperation be-tween the two border cities is giving Tijuana
and San Diego officials their first real hope in more than a decade that
border binge drinking by Southern California youths may finally be brought
under control.

U.S.-Mexico cooperation The transnational tactics include: * San Diego
police spot-checking youths crossing into Tijuana and turning back minors.
During the 15-day spring break period ending April 12, police turned back
480 minors.

* California Alcoholic Beverage Control officials training Tijuana police,
liquor-control board inspectors and bartenders on ways to spot fake age
identification cards.

* A coalition of U.S. authorities standing guard at the border reentry
point during heavy tourism seasons to counter fights, crimes and drunken
driving by youths return-ing from Tijuana.

* Tijuana police arresting and detaining minors found in bars and
nightclubs until a parent or legal guardian comes to pick them up.

* Tijuana liquor-control board officials fining businesses - up to $1,300
per infraction - or closing them for up to seven days when minors are found
on the premises. Three closures mandate permanent revocation of the owner's
liquor license. During the main spring break week this month, Ti-juana
officials closed two clubs for minors violations.

* New Tijuana policies prohibiting the public display of posters and signs
touting drink specials. Fines of $500 or more are imposed for infractions.

Reforms have fizzled

There are forthcoming restrictions on alcohol consumption by those of legal
drinking age by Mexican law. Bartenders and restaurant owners begin
training next month on ways to spot inebriated customers.

A 1991 investigation by the Or-ange County Register showed that 17 people
died in alcohol-related crashes tied to binge drinking in Tijuana over an
18-month period. Mexican officials promised a round of reforms then, but
they fizzled.

Raul Aleman Salazar, assistant director of Tijuana's liquor licensing
board, blamed politics for past failures.

Tijuana holds a mayoral election every three years, prompting a rotation of
administrations and changes in policies, programs and priorities. Salazar
says his department has built upon past pro-grams, tightening loopholes,
imposing heavier penalties and cooperating more with San Diego authorities.

This year's spring break was the first sign that the crackdown might succeed.

The number of American youths arrested dropped from a weekend average of
150 to 200 to only 75 on the weekend of April 11 and 12.

There are other signs that the effort is having an early impact.

On a Wednesday night tour of the avenue's clubs, liquor inspectors found
only three minors -none drinking - in one nightclub. And the usually
popular College Night saw a scant 20 percent of its typical 10,000-student
crush.

Authorities said they'd like to take credit for the crackdown, but admitted
that a combination of factors was probably responsible: * Publicity
surrounding the restrictions. * The unseasonably cold night-time weather.
* Rumors surrounding the death of Kavita Chopra, 21, of Anaheim, who the
Tijuana coroner's office said had died of natural causes after she choked
on vomit.

The lackluster crowd prompted a concern of a different type among Tijuana
club owners. Now grappling with the difficulty of retaining business while
trying to change customers' drinking habits, the owners say the entire
problem has been overblown by authorities and the media.

Club owners cry foul

"We get about 400 to 500 people at a time, and of those maybe three might
get really drunk, but every-one focuses on those three," said Alberto
Rubio, supervisor of two of the avenue's most popular spots, the Safari
Club and the Escape Club. "I think it's unfair to us. We want everyone to
be safe. That's what keeps bringing business back." Salazar has little
sympathy for the club owners.

"If their business is big but violating the law, we're shutting them down,"
Salazar said. "It may make for a smaller trade, but one that's legal and
safe."

And that may fuel the arrival of a more prosperous clientele, said Sigfredo
Pineda, a city spokesman.

"The presence of these kids who cause problems is keeping away older
tourists who like to shop the avenue during the day, then rush home before
night falls because they worry about drinking teens, fights and crime,"
Pineda said. "We're hoping that by decreasing the problem caused by these
types of youths, families will be more encouraged to stay later, perhaps
have dinner, take in a show, do more shopping. That's the kind of trade we
want here."

Although Americans tend to blame Mexico's lower drinking age for the
problems, Mexican authorities note that it is American teens - not local
youths - who lose control.

"They'll lose customers," Robert Bringman said of the crack-down,
especially the idea of restricting consumption. "If people can't come down
to have a good time, what good is it here? We might as well be back home."

The 21-year-old aviation electronics technician at North Island Naval Air
Station in San Diego was in town with a group of military comrades to
sample the border night life. Hanging about the dance floor of Club A, they
admitted that each of them might have 15 to 20 hard drinks before the night
ended.

"I can handle it," shrugged Andrew Rowe, 22. "We're sailors. It's our job."