I am a senior in Santa Susana Magnet High School, and I'm writing this in response to the article titled, "Alcohol retailers get schooled in the art of prevention" (Acorn, May 9).

I am rather surprised that measures such as these have not been taken earlier, especially in a town where there is very little for kids to do.

I've been present to many parties in my lifetime, and I have seen (and even experienced) the effects of alcohol and how much teens rely on it for entertainment and escape.

I don't know exactly when this phenomenon was first noticed, but I find it odd that we are just now starting to educate liquor store and local business owners about this issue, given how easy it is for one to obtain alcohol while dodging around the law against underage drinking and selling.

This brings me to my second point: It is great that the community is starting to take action (better late than never), but it's going to take a bit more to actually prevent the problem.

By educating store owners, it reduces sales to underage customers, but as many may have guessed, there's more than one way to get your fix.

Take cannabis, better known as "weed," for example. There are clear-cut laws and consequences tied to this substance, but many still find ways to obtain it and distribute it. The same holds true for alcohol, tobacco and just about any other substance one can think of. There's always a loophole; there's always a way around the rules.

I'm not writing this to discourage efforts to try and bring a solution to a very serious issue; I do hope that the community finds a surefire way to reduce the sale and abuse of these substances, illegal or no.

I write this to remind all that the grim reality is that we'll never permanently eliminate the problem of teens getting their hands on these substances.

I offer no solutions myself; I merely present this to state an opinion, and perhaps some novel minds out there will read this and come up with a brilliant answer to this conundrum our community faces and take that first step toward a more sober tomorrow. Justin La Torre Simi Valley