Youths caught buying, possessing or drinking alcohol can lose their driver licenses, even if the offense is unrelated to a traffic violation.

Minors under age 18 face having their licenses suspended for any alcohol-related offense, but a new law extends those penalties to youths under age 21.

Under a bill awaiting the governor's signature, anyone under the age of 21 caught in a tavern or private club can have their license suspended, whether or not the minor has been drinking.

"The rationale is that kids drinking alcohol shouldn't be driving," said Paul Boyden, executive director of the Statewide Association of Prosecutors. "It doesn't matter that the offense is related to driving or not. Driving is a privilege. It's not a right."

But civil rights attorney Brian Barnard says, "In this day and age, a suspended driver's license can cause hardships, including losing a job, which makes the ability to drive much closer to a right." He also questions the state's power to suspend a license simply because a minor is convicted of going into a bar.

"This is a status offense, meaning you're being charged because you're somewhere you shouldn't be," Barnard said. "This isn't a crime like shooting someone."

The law is expected to go into effect April 30.

If a minor is too young to drive, the penalty will be imposed for 90 days after the teen's 16th birthday.

Judges may opt to suspend a license for any alcohol-related offense for 90 days. But licenses will be automatically suspended for six months on the second offense and one year on subsequent offenses.

It's estimated that 5,300 individuals, ages 18 to 21, could have their licenses suspended in the year following passage of new law, said Kim Gibb, state records bureau chief.

All states have had laws prohibiting minors under age 21 from drinking alcohol since the passage of the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act. States that did not comply faced a reduction in federal highway funds.

Since then, research has shown that teenage drinkers damage their brain development and are more likely to end up as alcoholics than those who wait until adulthood to drink. Studies show that during teen years and into the early 20s, alcohol affects the brain's frontal lobe that governs judgment, complex thinking, decision-making, planning and impulse control. It also affects the brain's hippocampus, responsible for learning and memory, according to the American Medical Association.

"Too many Americans consider underage drinking a rite of passage to adulthood," acting Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu said in a statement earlier this month. "Research shows that young people who start drinking before the age of 15 are five times more likely to have alcohol-related problems later in life."

Although there has been a significant decline in tobacco and illicit drug use among teens, underage drinking has remained at consistently high levels. The 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimates there are 11 million underage drinkers in the United States. Nearly 7.2 million are considered binge drinkers, typically meaning they drink more than five drinks on one occasion, and more than 2 million are classified as heavy drinkers.