Statistics
In 2006, the average age at first alcohol use among recent initiates aged 12 to 49 was 16.6 years. This is earlier than any other drug except inhalants.
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[References]Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “Results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings,” Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Applied Studies, 2007. http://oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k6nsduh/2k6Results.cfm#Ch3
In 2006, an estimated 17,602 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes—an average of one every 30 minutes. These deaths constitute 41 percent of the 42,642 total traffic fatalities. Of these, an estimated 13,470 involved a driver with an illegal BAC (.08 or greater). On average someone is killed by a drunk driver every 39 minutes.
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[References]National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “2006 Traffic Safety Annual Assessment – A Preview.” DOT 810 791. Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, July 2007. http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810791.PDF
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Traffic Safety Facts 2006: Alcohol Impaired Driving.” DOT 810 801. Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2008. http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810801.PDF
An early age of drinking onset is associated with alcohol-related violence not only among persons under age 21 but among adults as well.
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[References]Hingson, Ralph, Timothy Heeren, and Rhonda Zakocs. “Age of Drinking Onset and Involvement in Physical Fights after Drinking.” Pediatrics. 2001 Oct; 108(4):872-7.
Underage alcohol use is more likely to kill young people than all illegal drugs combined.
[ref.]
[References]Grunbaum, J.A., et al. "Youth risk behavior surveillance: United States, 2001." MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report51(SS0 4):1–62, 2002.
Young, S.E., et al. "Substance Use, Abuse and Dependence in Adolescence: Prevalence, Symptom Profiles and Correlates". Drug and Alcohol Dependence68(3):309–322, 2002.
The total cost attributable to the consequences of underage drinking was $61.9 billion per year in 2001 dollars. This is $5.4 billion in medical costs, $14.9 billion in work loss and other resource costs, and $41.6 billion in lost quality of life.
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[References]Miller, Ted R. et al. “Societal Costs of Underage Drinking.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 2006 Jul; 67(4):519-28.
In 2007, the U.S. Surgeon General estimates that approximately 5,000 persons under age 21 die from alcohol-related injuries involving underage drinking each year.
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[References]U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2007). http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/underagedrinking/calltoaction.pdf
Underage drinkers are susceptible to immediate consequences of alcohol use, including blackouts, hangovers, and alcohol poisoning and are at elevated risk of neurodegeneration (particularly in regions of the brain responsible for learning and memory), impairments in functional brain activity, and the appearance of neurocognitive defects. Heavy episodic or binge drinking impairs study hairs and erodes the development of transitional skills to adulthood.
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[References]Zeigler, Donald, et al. “The Neurocognitive Effects of Alcohol on Adolescents and College Students.” Preventive Medicine 40 (2004): 23-32.
People who begin drinking before age 14 are seven times more likely than those who began drinking after age 21 to report being in a motor vehicle crash because of their drinking.
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[References]Hingson, Ralph, et al. “Age of Drinking Onset, Driving After Drinking, and Involvement in Alcohol-Related Motor Vehicle Crashes.” DOT HS 809 188. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, January 2001.