Alcohol Policies Project

Center for Science in the Public Interest

1875 Connecticut Ave NW Ste 300

Washington, DC  2009

202/777-8385

202/265-4954 (f)

alcproject@cspinet.org

 

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A response to beer-industry propaganda

 

Underage Drinking & Beer

Youth & Beer:

  • In 2003, 49.2% of students in grades 9-12 consumed beer.1

  • Between 2002 and 2003, 56.7% of 12th-graders reported using beer on an annual basis.  During the same time period, 36.7% of 12th-graders reported using beer monthly.1

  • Of the students in senior high school that drink beer, most began drinking between the ages of 12-15.1

  • 46.4% of 8th-graders and 75.9% of 12th-graders reported that beer is "fairly easy" or "very easy" to get.1

  • A 1991 white paper from the Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (now the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention) reported that college students consume approximately four billion cans of beer per year.  In fact, the total amount of alcoholic beverages that college students consume, more than 430 million gallons, would fill 3,500 Olympic-size pools.2  College drinking trends have remained essentially the same since 1991.3

 

Youth & Alcohol:

  • Alcohol continues to be a persistent -- and leading -- drug problem among young people, despite the progress in reducing the rates of drug and tobacco use by young people.  Although alcohol use among underage youth has declined overall since 1982, the trend in annual alcohol use between 1990 and 2003 for 12th-graders has not changed significantly.4

  • Alcohol is a factor in the four leading causes of death among persons ages 10 to 24: (1) motor-vehicle crashes, (2) unintentional injuries, (3) homicide, and (4) suicide.5

  • Young people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21.6

  • Young adults aged 18-29 account for 45% of total alcohol consumption.7

  • Youth between the ages of 12 and 20 consume up to 20% of the total number of drinks consumed per month.8

  • 18-25 year-olds binge drink at the highest rates (38.7%), peaking at age 21 (48.2%).  Heavy drinking also peaks at age 21 (17.8%).9

  • Underage males drink an average of 44.8 drinks per month, compared to males 21 and over, who report drinking an average of 38.9 drinks per month.  Underage women drink an average of 18.6 drinks per month compared with women over 21, who drink an average of 19.5 drinks per month.10

  • Underage people drink on fewer days per month than adults over 21, but when they do drink, underage youth consume more drinks, on average, per day than adults.11

  • Alcohol-related harms for adolescents:

    • lower graduation rates, higher drop-out rates

    • lower GPAs, lower academic achievement, higher school failures

    • higher incidents of unplanned sex, sexual assaults, and unprotected sex

    • trouble with community and campus police

    • lower wage potential

    • higher chances of alcohol-related traffic crashes and fatalities

 

References:

1. PRIDE Surveys (2003). 2002-2003 National Summary, Grades 6 through 12. PRIDE Questionnaire Report. 29 August 2003. Online: http://pridesurveys.com/main/supportfiles/ns0203.pdf.

2. Eigan, L.D. (1991). Alcohol Practices, Policies and Potentials of American Colleges and Universities: An OSAP White Paper. Rockville, MD: Office for Substance Abuse Prevention.

3. Johnston, L.D., O'Malley, P.M. & Bachman, J.G. (2003). Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975-2002. Volume II: College students and adults ages 19-40 (NIH Publication No. 03-5376). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.

4. Johnston, L.D., O'Malley, P.M. & Bachman, J.G. (2003). Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975-2002. Volume I: Secondary school students (NIH Publication No. 03-5375). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.

5. Grunbaum, J., Kann, L., Kinchen, S.A., Williams, B.I., Ross, J.G., Lowry, R., & Kolbe, L.J. Youth risk behavior surveillance--United States, 2001. In: Surveillance Summaries, June 28, 2002. MMWR 2002;51(No. SS-4):1-64. Online: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5104a1.htm.

6. Grant, B.F. & Dawson, D.A. (1997). Age at Onset of Alcohol Use and its Association with DSM-IV Alcohol Abuse and Dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Journal of Substance Abuse. 9:103-110.

7. Greenfield, T.K. & Rogers, J.D. (1999). Who drinks most of the alcohol in the U.S.? The policy implications. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 60(1):78-89.

8. Foster, S.E., Vaughan, R.D., Foster, W.H. & Califano, J.A. (2003). Alcohol consumption and expenditures for underage drinking and adult excessive drinking. Journal of the American Medical Association. 289(8):989-995.

9. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2002). Results from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Volume I. Summary of national findings.

10. Eigen, L.D. & Noble, J. (2000). Drinking under age 21: Problems & solutions. Research Report. Rockville, MD: Social & Health Services, Ltd.

11. Office of Applied Studies. (2003). The NSDUH Report: Quantity and Frequency of Alcohol Use. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Online: http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k3/AlcQF/AlcQF.htm.