A Few Facts about Underage Use of Alcohol

• 29% of parents and teens surveyed indicated they know of parents who host teen alcohol parties. (Source: Parents Who Host, Lose The Most: Don’t be a party to teenage drinking Evaluation Report, January 2007)

• 25% of teens indicated they have attended a party where alcohol is served to underage youth in the past two months, while parents thought the number was closer to 15%. (Source: Parents Who Host, Lose The Most: Don’t be a party to teenage drinking Evaluation Report, January 2007)

• 12% of youth maintained that they drank alcohol at the party or they would have drunk if they had attended a party. (Source: Parents Who Host, Lose The Most: Don’t be a party to teenage drinking Evaluation Report, January 2007)

• 68% parents and 61% of teens said that it is generally easy for underage youth to get alcohol. (Source: Parents Who Host, Lose The Most: Don’t be a party to teenage drinking Evaluation Report, January 2007)

• Every day, 5,400 young people under 16 have their first drink of alcohol. (Source: Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth with calculations from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health)Studies reveal that alcohol consumption by adolescents results in brain damage - possibly permanent -and impairs intellectual development.  (Source: Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (Volume 24, Number 2 National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, February 2000)

• Underage drinking cost Ohioans $273 million in medical costs in 2005. (Source: Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 2006)

• Adolescents drink less and have fewer alcohol-related problems when their parents discipline them consistently and set clear expectations. (Source: Hawkins JD, Graham JW, Maguin E, et al. 1997 Exploring the effects of age of alcohol use initiation and psychosocial risk factors on subsequent alcohol misuse. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 58(3): 280-290)

• When drinking is delayed until age 21, a child’s risk of serious alcohol problems is decreased by 70 percent (Source: Calculated from information contained in: Grant BF, Dawson DA. 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.)