Alcohol: the Number One Drug Problem Among Teens

Alcohol use is the number one drug problem among young people. It's easy to understand why. For adults, alcohol is legal, widely accepted in American culture and easily accessible. Many kids can get a drink right in their own homes.

Drinking younger

Teenagers are drinking younger and more frequently than before. They often start around age 13, according to studies. The average number of alcoholic drinks among college students is five in a single occasion, according to one survey. Among those younger than 21, it is 5.5 drinks, and among those 21 and older, it is 4.2 drinks.

Deadly consequences

The numbers show when young people and alcohol mix, there are deadly consequences. Many teenagers' deaths are related to alcohol use. The Partnership for a Drug-Free America has found that about 5,000 young people under age 21 die each year as a result of underage drinking. Many of these deaths are in traffic accidents. Ironically, alcoholic beverages most associated with "happy hour" have a host of other very unhappy results. They include alcoholism, other drug use and alcohol poisoning.

Peer pressure

Young people almost always begin drinking because of peer pressure. They try to be accepted and included in the group. According to a national survey, 11 percent of eighth graders, 22 percent of tenth graders and 29 percent of twelfth graders had engaged in "binge" drinking within the past two weeks.

Binge drinking

College presidents rank binge drinking as the most serious problem on campus. Heavy drinking is a deadly, serious problem on campuses and is well documented. Studies show that about two of every five college students engage in binge drinking. Frequent binge drinkers at college were 22 times more likely than non-binge drinkers to have a host of problems, such as:

• Missed classes
• Falling behind in school work
• Getting in trouble or hurt
• Engaging in unplanned sexual activity

Some facts about drinking at college

• White students age 23 and younger involved in athletics and members of a fraternity or sorority were more likely to binge drink.

• Students who were binge drinking in high school were three times more likely to do so in college.

• Research clearly shows that heavy alcohol use by college students is related to high-risk sexual behavior. Excessive use of alcohol can also increase the likelihood that students will engage in high-risk sex, behave aggressively or perpetrate or experience sexual assault.

• Data also show that alcohol and physical and sexual aggression are linked. Aggressive college students tend to drink more, but it may also be that heavier use increases the likelihood of aggression. At least half of college student sexual assaults are related to alcohol use.

• About one in three 18- to 24-year-olds admitted to emergency rooms for serious injuries is intoxicated. Heavy alcohol use is also related to homicides, suicides and drownings.

• The link between excessive alcohol use and unsafe driving is well known. About half of all fatal traffic crashes among those aged 18 to 24 involve alcohol. Many of those killed in this age group are college students.

Some facts about young people and alcohol use

• About two-thirds of teenagers who drink report they can buy their own alcoholic beverages. (Department of Health and Human Services study)

• People who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who begin at 21. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)

• Young people who drink alcohol are 7.5 times more likely to use illegal drugs and 50 times more likely to use cocaine than young people who never drink alcohol. (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University)

• More than three of every four students have had alcohol by the end of high school with almost half by the eighth grade. More than half of twelfth graders and a fifth of the eighth graders have been drunk at least once. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2004 Monitoring the Future study)

• A clear relationship exists between alcohol use and grade point average (GPAs) among college students. Students with GPAs of D's or F's drink three times as much as those who earn A's. (South Illinois University survey)

Sources:

Al-Anon/Alateen Family Headquarters, Inc.

Alcoholics Anonymous World Services

Department of Health and Human Services: Keeping Youth Drug Free

Food and Drug Administration: Children and Tobacco

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA)

National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI)

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Parents' Resource Institute for Drug Education, Inc (PRIDE)

Partnership for a Drug-Free America

U.S. Surgeon General

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University

Harvard University's School of Public Health

This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.