MADD Orange County - Alcohol: America's Number 1 Youth Drug Problem">

About 10.1 million current drinkers were age 12-20 in 2001. Of these young drinkers, 6.8 million were binge drinkers, and 2.1 million were classified as heavy drinkers. [SAMHSA, 2001]

On average, young people begin drinking at approximately 13 years of age. [National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Main Findings 1998, U.S Department of Health and Human Services]

50 percent of high school seniors, 39 percent of 10th-graders and 22 percent of 8th-graders reported using alcohol in the past month. [Univ. of Michigan National Survey, 2001]

Underage drinkers consume about 10 percent of all the alcohol purchased in the United States, or 3.6 billion drinks annually. [OJJDP, November 2001]

Each year, college students spend approximately $5.5 billion on alcohol – more than they spend on soft drinks, milk, juice, tea, coffee and books combined. [Drug Strategies, 1999]

Parents’ drinking behavior and favorable attitudes about drinking have been positively associated with adolescents’ initiating and continuing drinking. [NIAAA, 1997]

It is estimated that at least 2/3 of alcohol outlets sell to underage purchasers without asking for identification. [CDC, 1997]

The Dangers

Youth who drink before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21. [NIAAA, 1997]

Alcohol abuse alone is associated with motor vehicle crashes, homicides, suicides, and drowning: leading causes of death among youth. [Healthy People 2010: November 2000]

The more youth drink, the more likely they are to drink and drive, or ride in a car where the driver has been drinking. [American Academy of Pediatrics, 1998]

In 2001, 2,453 youth (aged 15 to 20) were killed in alcohol-related traffic crashes, accounting for more than 38 percent of all traffic deaths for that age group. [NHTSA, 2002]

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people from 15-20 years old. [NHTSA/NCSA 2001]

Each year, drinking by college students, ages 18-24, contributes to an estimated 1,400 student deaths, 500,000 injuries, more than 600,000 assaults, more than 70,000 sexual assaults, 400,000 engaging in unprotected sex, more than 150,000 developing an alcohol-related health problem. In 2000, 2.1 million college students drove a car while under the influence of alcohol. [NIAAA, 2002]

2.6 million teenagers did not know that a person can die from an alcohol overdose. [CSAP, 1996]

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 earlier ages. [Dr. Swartzwelder, Duke University Medical Center,, 1998]

The Cost

Underage drinking costs our society approximately $53,000,000,000 annually, including costs for traffic crashes, violent crime, suicide attempts and treatment. [PIRE, October 1999]

In 1998, the estimated economic cost of alcohol abuse in the U.S. was more than $184 billion. This cost is equivalent to roughly $683 for every man ,woman and child living in America. [NIAAA, 2000]

The Law

Minimum drinking age laws have saved an estimated 20,043 lives since 1975. [NHTSA/NCSA 2000]

Zero tolerance laws have reduced young drivers’ alcohol-involved crashes by 20 percent. [Hingson, Hereen and Winter, 1995]

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Page updated: August 13, 2005