Published: Dec 30, 2004
Modified: Dec 30, 2004 7:00 AM
20% of youth admit driving after imbibing
By LAURA MECKLER, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- More than 4 million people younger than 21 drove under the
influence of drugs or alcohol last year, according to a government report
released Wednesday. That's one in five of all Americans 16 to 20.
"That's an awful lot of kids if you think about it," said Charlene
Lewis, acting director of the Office of Applied Studies at the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Her agency's report, based on a large household survey of drug use, found
a small drop in driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol between
2002 and 2003. In 2002, 22 percent of Americans 16 to 20 drove under the
influence; last year, it was 20 percent.
Just 4 percent reported being arrested and booked for driving under the
influence in the year before they were interviewed.
The report was released in advance of New Year's Eve in hopes of raising
consciousness of the issue on a night when the risk of drinking and driving
is high, federal officials said. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading
cause of death among young people.
The data come from face-to-face interviews in the homes of people 12 and
older as part of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. People were
asked to define for themselves what driving "under the influence"
means.
Young people were most likely to drink alcohol and then drive, with 17
percent admitting this. Fourteen percent said they had driven under the
influence of illicit drugs, and 8 percent reported driving after consuming
a combination of alcohol and drugs.
The rates were highest among people who lived in the Midwest and among
those who lived outside metropolitan areas.
Rates shift
Researchers did not have data to compare the 2002-03 rates to those of
earlier years. But a similar survey of teen behavior found that drunken
driving fell steadily between 1984 and the early 1990s as media campaigns
pleaded, "Friends don't let friends drive drunk," and urged
partygoers to choose designated drivers.
The rates remained level from 1992 to 1995 before jumping a bit in the
late 1990s and then declining a little in 2003, said Lloyd Johnston, principal
investigator for the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future survey
of students. "It's not nearly as serious a problem as it was in the
mid-'80s, but it's still a serious problem," he said.
His survey, too, found that a substantial number of teens rode in cars
where drivers had been drinking, adding to the number of young people
at risk, Johnston said.
Teens growing up in the 1980s were exposed to heavy media campaigns against
drunken driving, but that is not true for today's teens, he said, warning
of "generational forgetting."
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According to a study from
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, parents strongly influence
their children's drinking behavior. Researchers at Wake Forest analyzed
survey data from the National Evaluation of the Enforcing Underage Drinking
Laws Program and found that adults' approval of alcohol use is highly
correlated with youth drinking behavior. Teens were twice as likely to
binge drink and use alcohol within a 30-day period if their parents or
friends' parents provided alcohol at their homes for a party. The study
also showed that parents who set strict consequences for breaking the
house rules regarding drinking can help prevent underage drinking. The
study's findings were published in the October 2004 issue of Journal of
Adolescent Health.
Another study has found that the younger a person begins drinking alcohol,
the more likely they are of becoming problem adult drinkers. Researchers
with the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions have
found that the likelihood of alcohol abuse or dependence later in life
increases by 12 percent for each year of decrease in the age at first
drink for both men and women. They also reported that the earlier an individual
began drinking alcohol, the greater the degree of alcohol intoxication
experienced routinely on typical drinking occasions in adulthood. The
report can be found in the September 2004 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical
and Experimental Research.
We’d like to remind everyone of a couple of online resources that
you will find useful in your work on underage drinking. The Marin Institute,
www.marininstitute.org, provides information on environmental strategies,
community organizing, and working with youth. Students Against Destructive
Decisions is another valuable resource for youth-related information,
www.saddonline.com. The Prevention Resource Center’s Resource Link,
http://resources.prev.org, provides information and practical guidance
on how to combat alcohol and other drug abuse and misuse. The materials
on the Website are based on the scientific research and analysis conducted
at the Center.
This month’s featured Success Stories are from Florida and Illinois.
In Volusia County, Florida, the County Council enacted an emergency injunction
that stopped plans to allow alcohol sales at its county fair. After hearing
concerns about safety and the need for a family-friendly environment,
the County Council decided that a complete ban on alcohol sales would
be better than allowing beer tents or other limited beer sale options.
In DeKalb, Illinois, various sectors of the community came together to
educate vendors on liquor laws and support law enforcement during their
compliance operations. As a result of the campaign, non-compliance rates
fell from 54 percent to 25 percent and, with the support of the City Council
and City Manager, a mechanism was created to continue funding compliance
operations.
Did you know...
* About 45 percent of those 21 years of age and older report that they
did not consume any alcohol in the past month. Another 23 percent
report binge drinking during that period. (SAMHSA, 2004)
* Binge drinkers (those who have five or more drinks on any occasion) are only 20 percent of the US population, but drink 83 percent of the alcohol. Frequent bingers (those who have five or more drinks at a time five or more times in the past month) are only six percent of the US population, but drink 50 percent of the alcohol. (OJJDP, 2002)
Underage: Who drinks and
how much?
The picture for underage drinking is somewhat different.
Most young people reported to the National Household
Survey that they had not had anything to drink in the last
month. About 94 percent of 12- to 14-year-olds reported
that they had not drunk alcohol while 75 percent of 15- to
17-year-olds and 52 percent of 18- to 20-year-olds reported
that they had not drunk in the preceding month. Figure 4
shows the proportions of young people reporting drinking
at different frequencies.
In terms of the quantity of drinking, the proportion
of young drinkers who report drinking heavily (five or
more drinks at a sitting) is higher than for adults.
While about 41 percent of adult drinkers report heavy drinking
on one or more occasions in the past month, 51 percent
of 12- to 14-year-old drinkers, 65 percent of 15- to 17-yearold
drinkers and 71 percent of 18- to 20-year-old drinkers
report heavy drinking in the past month.
Young people who drink heavily consume the vast majority
of the alcohol consumed by their age group. Percentages
range from 92 percent for 12- to 14-year-olds to
96 percent for 18- to 20-year-olds. Underage drinkers consume
about 12 percent of all the alcohol purchased in the
United States, or 3.6 billion drinks annually, and the vast
majority of this alcohol is consumed in a risky fashion.5
The following picture of underage drinking emerges:
The majority of young people abstain from regular
use of alcohol—a greater percentage than adults.
Young people who do consume alcohol are more
likely than adults to drink heavily.
The small proportion of youth who drink heavily
consume the vast majority of the alcohol consumed
by underage drinkers.
LIST OF PEOPLE ARRESTED FOR DWI AND AWAITING TRIAL IN NEW HANOVER COUNTY.
SPEAK OUT IN THE FORUM
