A study showing that 21 percent of high school seniors who drink get their alcohol from a restaurant or bar is enough to convince legislators to keep caps on the number of liquor licenses.

Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, said caps will not be repealed, even though the state has only 14 restaurant liquor licenses left and no more bar permits.

"I have concerns about the access and availability of alcohol," said Valentine during a Wednesday meeting of the Business and Labor Interim Committee, which oversees alcohol legislation.

If more liquor licenses are made available, Valentine said he fears more minors will drink. He pointed to the 2009 Prevention Needs Assessment Survey in which Utah students reported where they got their alcohol.

Bars and restaurants captured the smallest number of imbibing youngsters, the survey showed. Among 12th graders, 21 percent said they drank at a bar or restaurant, while 70 percent reported they imbibed at their own home or some else's house. Of those seniors who imbibe, more than 80 percent said they got their alcohol at a party, 70 percent got it from an adult and more than 55 percent said they gave someone money to buy alcohol for them.

But the most alarming part of the survey shows that large numbers of children are drinking alcohol with their parents' permission, said Doug Murakami of the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Parental disapproval is the No. 1 reason minors do not drink -- even if moms or dads themselves imbibe, Murakami told liquor-control commissioners on Monday.

"One of our most difficult audiences to reach is parents who believe that underage drinking is OK," he said. "Research shows that even the slightest degree of perceived parental tolerance substantially increases the likelihood that their children will drink."

The survey also found that, statewide, underage drinking is down about 4 percent from two years ago, across all grade levels. Still, about 7 percent of all sixth-graders reported they drank alcohol, a percentage that rose to 37 percent among high school seniors.

For his part, Valentine insisted that when the Legislature meets in January, lawmakers will not increase population quotas that set the number of licenses for bars and restaurants.

He received support from Rep. Jack Draxler, R-Logan, who said his constituents oppose more alcohol outlets.

Valentine defended the state's quota system, citing a study by the Pacific Institute of Evaluation that showed alcohol-related problems increase in neighborhoods where bars, restaurants and liquor stores are located close together.

The institute's study recommended that governments set minimum distances between alcohol outlets and that new licenses be limited in areas that already have too many outlets. For problem areas, researchers suggested governments not reissue licenses when a business ceases operation and that outlets that repeatedly violate liquor laws should be closed.

dawn@sltrib.com