According to Cambridge Police Department records, liquor law violations have remained relatively steady, seeing a slight increase from 1996 to 1997. Police reported 16 offenses in the first half of this year, up one from the same period last year.

Central Square, a hot spot for teenage Cantabrigians, is a particular problem area, police officials said.

And You Also Can't Buy...

Although nationwide attention is focused on alcohol abuse, age restrictions are in place for a wide variety of goods easily accessible in the square: cigarettes, pipes, even porn.

But in some cases, the regulations don't seem to have restricted access.

Late one night last week, a young man with a large baseball cap pulled down over his scraggly hair to his nose, bought a pack of cigarettes from Store 24.

Although he appeared to be in middle-to-late teens, he was not queried by store staff about his age or asked for identification.

That wasn't the case at Nini's newsstand, purveyor of newspapers, naughty magazines and wide selection of cigarettes.

On a recent Saturday night, a young-looking woman picked her favorite puffs from the wall behind the cashier.

"Can I see some I.D.?" a proprietor behind the counter asked apologetically "I'm used to it," the woman smiled.

"Sorry to have to do this, but they'll hit us pretty hard if we don't," the cashier replied.

Still, Store 24 and all other Square stores surveyed have signs posted that warn prospective purchasers of cigarettes under the age of 27 to have their official identification ready.

But are the rules--particularly those governing alcohol sales--enforced?

Several students who asked that their names not be used say that buying booze in the Square is next to impossible, so they rely on upperclass friends to purchase it for them.

That's not surprising to Harvard administrators, police officers and store owners, who admit that there's little they can do about it.