Sergeant Martin Bull said police were particularly alarmed about the number of local tertiary students caught drink-driving.
"There's certainly been an increase in drink-driving in our area and it shows a lack of forethought and a lack of consideration," he said.
So far this year, of the 14 people aged under 25 sentenced in the Balclutha District Court for drink-driving, seven were listed as Telford Rural Polytechnic students.
Their breath-alcohol levels ranged from 217mcg to 787mcg.
Telford Rural Polytechnic chief executive Jonathan Walmisley said he did not think the polytechnic - which has about 120 students on campus - had a bigger problem than anywhere else.
Constable Tom Taylor, of Balclutha, said he believed drink-driving offenders were getting younger.
"From my experience, it used to be drivers between 20 and 30 caught for drink-driving. Now, there are more and more younger ones since they dropped the drinking age."
The legal drinking age was lowered from 20 to 18 in 1999.
In February, Const Taylor stopped a 17-year-old youth who allegedly had a breath-alcohol level of 854mcg. The youth was yet to appear in court.
Mr Walmisley said the polytechnic did not allow drinking on campus, including the farm, and was doing everything it could to prevent students drink-driving.
"We have no tolerance for people driving under the influence. We mention the issue to parents and do everything we can to discourage drink-driving."
At the beginning of each year, police and health officials talked to Telford students about alcohol-related issues.
While the number of students drinking was not increasing, it remained a problem, he said.
"I don't think there is an answer. This is a national problem. We're doing what we can.
"We do try to impound their cars, but we can't stop them lending their cars to someone else." Const Taylor said many young people were exceeding the under-20 and adult limits.
"With levels that high, they know they are over the limit, especially those that are under 20 ... They must know they're not OK to drive."
Southern district road policing manager Inspector Andrew Burns said the number of young people drink-driving was a national concern.
"We've found that there is a general trend across the country that more and more young people are taking the risk and drink-driving. It's reinforced by the numbers appearing in court."
Southern police were not targeting any particular group, but the number of young drivers apprehended drink-driving showed it was a significant problem, he said.
"There does appear to be a problem in rural areas in particular. People aren't planning how to get home when they are drinking. Don't wait until you are drinking before deciding how to get home. Make decisions earlier," he said.
