American young people are drinking at an earlier age than ever before. First use of alcohol typically begins around the age of 13 (Public Health Service, 1990). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention try to track these patterns through annual national surveys of drug and alcohol use among students in grades 9 through 12. According to the figures for 1995 (the latest information available), 51 percent of students had had at least one drink of alcohol during the 30 days preceding the survey.
What are some of the dangers of alcohol use among young people?
What can be done to help decrease alcohol use among young people? Will legal action help reduce this problem? Let's explore some of the laws that have been instituted to help reduce this problem.
Increased risk of death: Alcohol use is associated with the leading causes of death—including homicide, suicide, and drunk driving—among people under the age of 25 (Centers for Disease Control, 1990). For instance, compared with other drivers, those who were under the age of 25 had the highest intoxication rates for fatal crashes and were more likely to die intoxicated in an automobile accident (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1996). High school students who accepted rides with drivers in this category—and anywhere from 33 percent to 49 percent (depending on age, sex, and race) of the surveyed students did—shared this risk (CDC, 1996). Medical emergencies like alcohol-induced comas, and even death, can result from binge drinking, also known as heavy episodic drinking (defined as having had five or more drinks of alcohol on at least once occasion during the 30 days preceding the survey). Thirty-eight percent of college students surveyed had binged on alcohol during the previous two weeks (NIDA, 1996). About half of the drinkers between the ages of 18 and 25 are heavy episodic drinkers. In Virginia alone four college students died from heavy drinking in 1997 (Washington Post, March 10, 1998).
Exposure to sexually transmitted diseases: Because alcohol lessens inhibitions about taking chances and engaging in risky behaviors, students who have sex under the influence of alcohol—as 36 percent of teenagers reported in the 1995 survey—are more likely to engage in unprotected sex, which increases their chances of picking up a sexually transmitted disease. Almost 20 percent of teenagers who drink at all at the time of sex fail to use condoms (Strunin, 1990), and episodic drinkers are three times less likely to use condoms than other students are.
Risk of pregnancy: The 36 percent of the student sample that engaged in unprotected sex also risked an unwanted pregnancy. Among those who become pregnant, women who consume alcohol during the first 12 to 15 weeks of pregnancy take the chance that their child may be born with fetal alcohol syndrome, the leading preventable cause of mental retardation in children and a possible predictor of disruptive behavioral disorders and learning disabilities. Researchers do not know what the "safe" level of alcohol use is in pregnancy, which is why alcoholic beverages are required by law to carry warnings about possible danger to the unborn.
Problems in school: Grade point averages fall as alcohol use rises. Young people who begin to drink between the ages of 13 and 15 and who drink at least once a week are at high risk for school failure (NIAAA, 1998). College students with D or F averages drink three times as much as those who earn A's and B's (Presley & Meilman, 1992).
Problems with the law: In 1996, more than 65 percent of juveniles taken into custody were under the influence of alcohol or marijuana at the time of their arrest (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1997). Young people who start drinking between the ages of 13 and 15 and drink at least once a week are at high risk for trouble with the law (NIAAA, 1998). And in all age groups, alcohol's ability to lower inhibitions makes some people more likely to express anger and aggression.
