Underage Alcohol Use:
- Is a major cause of death from injuries among young people. Each year, approximately 5,000 people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking, this includes about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicide, as well as hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drownings.
- Increases the risk of carrying out, or being a victim of, a physical or sexual assault.
- Can affect the body in many ways. The effects of alcohol range from hangovers to death from alcohol poisoning.
- Can lead to other problems. These may include bad grades in school, run-ins with the law, and other drug use.
- Affects how well a young person judges risk and makes sound decisions. For example, after drinking, a teen may see nothing wrong with driving a car or riding with a driver who has been drinking.
- Plays a role in risky sexual activity. This can increase the chance of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
- Can harm the growing brain, especially when teens drink a lot. The brain continues to develop from birth through the teen years into the mid 20s.
Underage drinking is everyone's problem:
- Underage drinking can lead to dangerous behavior, property damage, and violence.
- The result can be injury and even death for the drinker and for other people nearby.
- About 45% of people who die in car crashes involving a drinking driver under age 21 are people other than the driver.
Ending Underage Drinking is everyone's job:
It is time to change how we think, talk, and act when it comes to underage drinking. We need to stop accepting it and start discouraging it. It is time to help young people understand that it is not okay for them to drink alcohol.
U. S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General's Call to Action, 2007