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Monday, March 28, 2005 Page: 7A
April is Alcohol Awareness Month and underage drinking is a serious and
growing health problem. According to the National Council on Alcoholism and
Drug Dependence, despite the legal drinking age of 21, alcohol is the drug
most frequently used by American teenagers.
Consumed more frequently than all other illicit drugs combined, alcohol
contributes to an estimated 1,400 student deaths, 500,000 injuries, and 70,000
cases of sexual assault or date rape each year on college campuses across the
nation. It’s time for the nation to acknowledge that alcoholism is a disease,
not a rite of passage. America’s adults can no longer evade the serious
consequences of underage and excessive college drinking. Binge drinking, the
most prevalent form of underage drinking, is as common as it was in the early
1990s, suggesting that efforts to combat it have so far failed. As many as
360,000 of the nation’s 12 million undergraduates will ultimately die from
alcohol-related causes, more than the number who will be awarded advanced
degrees. Alcohol is the most frequently used drug by high school seniors, and
its use appears to be increasing along with the use of tobacco and marijuana
Alcohol is a factor in the four leading causes of death among persons ages
10 to 24: motor-vehicle crashes, unintentional injuries, homicide, and
suicide.
The vast majority of adults who have diagnosable alcohol or drug problems
began their use as teenagers or younger. Delaying the start of alcohol or drug
use seems to help prevent the occurrence of these disorders. Underage drinking
is a complex problem, but it can be solved through a sustained and cooperative
effort between parents, schools, community leaders, and the children
themselves.
Three areas have proven to be effective in prevention of underage drinking:
curtailing the availability of alcohol, consistent enforcement of existing
laws and regulations, and changing norms and behaviors through education.
Support of the educational programs by parents and teachers is especially
helpful. If the adults in young person’s life do not enforce healthy behavior
around drug or alcohol use, the young person is most unlikely to accomplish
healthy behavior. Parents or other adults who drink or use drugs may feel
awkward about talking to children about not using. As awkward as it may be, it
is useful to the young person to hear about the adult’s considerations or
struggles to stop, how the drug or alcohol use interferes with the adult’s
life and value system. There is never a bad time to talk to young people about
drug or alcohol use. Just as important, the alcohol beverage industry has a
responsibility to discourage underage drinking and to curtail advertising and
marketing that appeal to underage youth.
Kara Chacko Public Relations & Marketing Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical
Center Wilkes-Barre