Underage Drinking Fact Sheet
"Underage alcohol use is a significant threat to the heatlh and safety of our youth. It is time for us to come to grips with this widespread devastating public health problem."
--Steven Schroeder, M.D. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Underage drinkers account for one-fifth of the nation's alcohol consumption. (Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Feb. 2003)
On average, children now try alcohol for the first time at the age of 12, and nearly 20 percent of 12 to 20-year-olds report being binge drinkers (having 4-5 drinks in a row). (Join Together Online, December 9, 2002)
More than 40 percent of individuals who begin drinking before age 13 will develop alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence at some time in their lives. (Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free, 2001)
An American Medical Association study shows that alcohol use during the adolescent years is associated with damage to memory and learning capabilities as well as the decision-making and reasoning areas in the brain. According to reasearchers, alcohol takes a greater toll on the brain development of those under 21 than on any other age group. Adults would have to consume twice as many drinks to suffer the same damage as adolescents, and even occasional heavy drinking injures young brains. (Join Together Online, 21/9/02)
Binge drinking is on the rise in the United States and is climbing fastest amoung 19 to 20-year-olds, who are too young to drink legally, according to a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention., (Associated Press, December 91, 2002)
The total cost of alcohol use by youth--including traffic crashes, violent crime, burns, drowning, suicide attempts, fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol poisonings and treatment-- is more than $58 billion per year. (Pacific Institues Reasearch and Evaluation, 7/99)
Over 1,000 college students die from alcohol-related accidents in the United States each year. Reasearchers found that over 500,000 college students are injured annually while under the infulence of alcohol, and over 600,000 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking. (The Brown University Digest of Addiction Theory and Application, Jan. 2002)
The Rober Wood Johnson Foundation commissioned a study in 1998 and found that 96 percent of Americans view underage drinking as a significant problem and support mearsures that would reduce teen drinking. The study also showed that 83 percent of respondents favored punishment of adult providers. (Illinois Baptist, Oct. 1, 1998)