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Underage Substance Use Education + Prevention
Prevent underage drinking, other drug use and impaired driving through targeted education and awareness programs. Objective:
Research shows that teens are over- represented in crashes 12 and that the long-term effects of underage consumption play a part in the propensity of a person to make the choice to get behind the wheel after drinking. 13 It is not just drunk driving, however, with which the communities are concerned. Taking away the keys does not take away the risks when it comes to underage drinking. Underage drinking is also associated with violent crime, property crime, unintentional injury, issues with mental health, risky sexual behavior, and other negative consequences. In addition to these immediate dangers, young people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence and are two and a half times more likely to become abusers of alcohol than those who begin drinking at age 21. 14
Young drivers (ages 16-20) are 17 times more likely to die in a crash where alcohol is involved. 11
11. CDC Vital signs: Teen Drinking and Driving - A Dangerous Mix, October 2012 12. NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts: Young Drivers 2012 Data, April 2014 13. Hingson, Ralph, etal. “Age of Drinking Onset, Driving After Drinking, and Involvement in Alcohol - Related Motor Vehicle Crashes. ” DOT HS 809 188. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, January 2001 14. Grant, B.F., & Dawson, D. A. (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 16
Mothers Against Drunk Driving ®
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