Underage & Youth
Drinking Issues: 2002 - 2003
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15 – 20 year olds are 6.8% of U.S. drivers, but are 14% of
drivers involved in fatal crashes. 22% of those involved in fatal
crashes had been drinking. [1 - see source listed below]
2.6 million teenagers did not know you could die from an
alcohol overdose. [2]
Of drivers 15 – 20 years of age who had been drinking and
killed in an alcohol-related crash, 80% were not wearing their seatbelts.
[1]
Alcohol is a factor in the three leading causes of death -
vehicle crashes, homicide and suicide – for people ages 16-to-20; more than
45% of these deaths result from alcohol-related crashes…about one death every
2½ hours on a typical weekend. [1]
The brain does not finish developing until a person is around 21
years old, so the risks of losing memory and learning capacity, as well as
slowing the capacity for good judgment can be severely affected by the use of
alcohol at early ages. [8]
Alcohol Advertising
$1.57 billion was spent on alcohol advertising in measured
media (television, radio, print, and outdoor advertising) in 2001. [16]
American children will see 100,000 beer commercials before
they turn 18. [2]
Alcohol was consumed in 65% of the TV programs most popular
with teenagers. [6]
In 2001, alcohol advertising on TV reached 89% of young people
ages 12-20, who saw an average of 245 alcohol advertisements each. [17]
Underage Drinking
31% of high school seniors reported binge drinking within the
last 2 weeks, 51% admitted to the consumption of alcohol. [5]
79% of all high school students have tried alcohol at least
once. [12]
40% of ninth-grade students have consumed alcohol before age
13. [7]
55.8% of underage students say that drinking "to get
drunk" was an important reason for drinking. [15]
The Consequences
40% of drinkers who got started before age 15 were classified
later in life as alcohol dependent. [14]
In 2000, 2,339 youths ages 15 – 20 died in alcohol-related
crashes. That’s 50 per week. [18]
About one-third of all drivers arrested or convicted of DUI
are repeat offenders. [15]
Teens 15 and older who drink alcohol are 7 times more likely
to have sexual intercourse than those who do not drink. [20]
College Statistics
College students spend $5.5 billion on alcohol each year…
more than they spend on soft drinks, tea, milk, juice, coffee or books
combined. [3]
42% of all college students reported that they had engaged in binge
drinking the last two weeks. [3]
More than ¼ of college students ages 18 – 24 have driven in
the past year while under the influence. [4]
65% of college students involved in alcohol-related crashes have
a BAC of a .10% or higher. Most of these are more than 2 times the
legal limit! [1]
Among young adults 18 to 25 years old, 19.9% have driven
under the influence of alcohol. [9]
About 18% of full time undergraduates are heavy drinkers.
[9]
Residents of fraternities or sororities are 75% more
likely to be binge drinkers compared to other students. [10]
More than 70,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report
having been too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex. [11]
About 25% of college students report academic consequences
of their drinking, including missing classes, falling behind, doing poorly on
exams or papers and receiving lower grades overall. [13]
More than three million college students between the ages of 18
and 24 chose to ride with a driver who had been drinking. [11]
FYI:
More Americans have been killed by drunk drivers than in all the
wars fought since the founding of our country. [1]
There were 16,653 alcohol-related fatalities in 2000; 40% of the
total traffic fatalities for the year. [18]
An estimated 513,000 people are injured in alcohol-related
crashes each year, an average of 59 people per hour or approximately
one person
every minute. [19]
Laboratory and on-road research shows that the vast majority of
drivers, even experienced drivers, are significantly impaired at .08 with regard
to critical driving tasks such as braking, steering, lane changing, judgment and
divided attention. [19]
80% of the people killed by drunk drivers and 68% of the people
injured by drunk drivers are in the drunk driver’s car. [1]
-
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2000
-
Department of Health & Human Services. Center for
Substance Abuse Prevention, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Jam the Performance Magazine."
- Eigen, Lewis D. "Alcohol Practices, Policies and
Potentials of American Colleges and Universities: An OSAP White Paper."
-
Department of Health & Human Services. "Changing
the Culture of Drinking at US Colleges?" April 2002
-
University of Michigan Survey, 1999
-
OND CP study of Broadcast between October-December 1999
-
Center for Disease Control, 2000
-
MADD, The Key, Dr. Swartzwelder, Duke University
Medical Center
-
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminstration,
2000
-
Weschler et al, Journal of American College Health, March
2002
-
Hingson et al, "Age of Drinking Onset and Involvement
in Physical Fights After Drinking" , 2002
-
Center for Disease Control, 2002
-
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism,
Washington, D.C., 2002
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism,
Washington, D.C., 2001
- Weschler et al, 2001
-
Competitive Media Reporting, Strategy, Database, June 2002
-
Teenage Research Unlimited, 2002
-
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2000
-
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2002
-
Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse, Columbia
University, New York 2002
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Page updated: August 13, 2005 | 
