You are confused. Alcohol is a drug.
In April 1998, the U.S. House Speaker's Task Force for a Drug-Free America launched an initiative to "win the war on drugs" by 2002. The task force will direct a three-front attack -- deter demand, stop supply, and increase accountability -- and introduce a minimum of two bills each week for at least eight weeks.
CSPI and other organizations remind the task force that alcohol is a drug too. And for those under age-21, alcohol is an illicit drug.
Kids’ favorite and most devastating drug is the alcohol in beer. It’s legal for adults and heavily advertised. TV ads often reach millions of teens and children with messages that appeal to their humor, sense of fantasy, or identification with sports and glamorous, young-adult activities.
* An alarming number of young people engage in harmful binge drinking (five or more drinks at one sitting) -- 15% of 8th graders, 25% of 10th graders, and over 31% of 12th graders.1
* Alcohol is a factor in the three leading causes of deaths among 15-24 year olds: unintentional injuries, homicides, and suicides.2
* 21% of young drivers 15-20 years of age who were killed in automobile crashes were intoxicated at the time of the incident.3
* Research suggests that alcohol use may lead to sexual aggression on college campuses. One study noted that 67% of male sexual aggressors, and 50% of female victims, had been drinking at the time the victimization occurred.4
* College students--many of whom are minors-- who engage in binge drinking are seven to ten times more likely to have unplanned and unprotected sex, damage property, get into trouble with authorities, or get injured.5
* Adolescent alcohol abusers show elevations in liver enzymes, an earlier indicator of liver damage.6
* Adolescent alcohol use is associated with earlier initiation of sexual activity, more frequent sexual activity, and less frequent condom use.7
* The younger the age of drinking onset, the greater the chance that an individual at some point in life will develop a clinically defined alcohol disorder.8 |
