WORKING TOGETHER TO CREATE A WORLD WHERE UNDERAGE DRINKING ENDS, AND LIVES DON’T.
UNDERAGE DRINKING FACT SHEET
• Teen alcohol use kills about 4,700 people each year — that’s more than all other illegal drugs combined. 1 • High school students who use alcohol or other substances are five times more likely to drop out of school or believe good grades aren’t important. 2
• Three out of four 12th graders reported NOT binge drinking in the past two weeks. 3
• Teens who do NOT drink alcohol until they are 21 are over 80% LESS likely to abuse alcohol or become alcohol dependent later in life than those who drink before age 15. 4 • The brain is not fully developed until the early 20s, and alcohol can cause long-term damage to a growing brain. 5
• The 21 minimum drinking age has saved about 800 lives per year. 6
• Youth who begin drinking before the age of 15 are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who wait until they are 21. 7 • Adolescent drinkers perform worse in school, are more likely to fall behind and have an increased risk of social problems, depression, suicidal thoughts and violence. 8 • Teens who do NOT drink alcohol until they are 21 are 85% less likely to be in a motor vehicle crash because of their drinking later in life than those who drink before age 14. 9 1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI). Atlanta, GA: CDC. http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact- sheets/underage-drinking.htm 2 National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Volume 1: Secondary School Students”, National Survey Results on Drug Use fromThe Monitoring the Future Study, 1975-1997. Rockville, MD: Department of Health and Human Services, 1998. 3 Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2013). Monitoring the Future national results on adolescent drug use: Over- view of key findings, 2012. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, the University of Michigan. 4 (9) Grant, B.F., and Dawson, D.A. Age at onset of drug use and its association with DSM–IV drug abuse and dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Journal of Substance Abuse 10:163–173, 1998 5 Brown SA, Tapert SF, Granholm E, Delis DC (2000). “Neurocognitive functioning of adolescents: Effects of protracted alcohol use.” Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 24 (2): 164-171. 6 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Lives Saved in 2008 by Restraint Use And Minimum Drinking Age Laws.” DOT HS 811 153. June 2009. - See more at: http://www.madd.org/underage-drinking/why21/history.html#sthash.ZixjPSn4.dpuf 7 Hingson, Ralph, et al. “Age of First Intoxication, Heavy Drinking, Driving after Drinking and Risk of Unintentional Injury among US College Stu- dents.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 64 no 1 (2003), 23+. 8 American Medical Association (AMA) (2002). Fact Sheet from an AMA Report on Alcohol’s Adverse Effects on the Brains of Children, Adolescents and College Students. - See more at: http://www.madd.org/underage-drinking/why21/brains.html#sthash.X9mXKM5v.dpuf 9 (9) Grant, B.F., and Dawson, D.A. Age at onset of drug use and its association with DSM–IV drug abuse and dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Journal of Substance Abuse 10:163–173, 1998
MADD Power of You(th) : Activation Toolkit STUDENT LEADER
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