Call to Action on Underage Drinking

Ivanhoe Newswire
Thursday, March 8, 2007; 12:00 AM

By Lucy Williams, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Some call it a rite of passage. Others say it's killing our nation's youth. Underage drinking has faced much debate, but the U.S. Surgeon General's Office wants to set the record straight.

"There is not a safe age to begin drinking," Acting Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu, M.D., M.P.H., told Ivanhoe. "The earlier that one begins to drink, the more risk there is, not only for developmental effects, but also the effects of long-term alcohol problems. Not only is it illegal, but it has an impact on safety and wellbeing that may go beyond adolescence."

On Tuesday, the U.S. Surgeon General's Office announced a Call to Action to Americans to stop and prevent underage drinking.

According to the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, there are 11 million underage drinkers in the United States, with nearly 7.2 million binge drinkers and more than 2 million heavy drinkers. Teen use of tobacco and illicit drugs has declined significantly, but underage drinking remains consistently high.

"Alcohol is the drug of choice among America's adolescents," Dr. Moritsugu said. "It's used more than tobacco and illicit drugs."

"As a youthful drinker, you also put other individuals at risk. It increases the risk of motor vehicle crashes, physical and sexual assault, and risky sexual behavior," he said. "All of these are totally preventable."

The Call to Action was developed in collaboration with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The plan establishes six clear goals:

• Facilitate healthy adolescent development that help prevent and reduce underage drinking by fostering societal changes
• Coordinate a national effort to encourage parents, schools, communities, the government, social systems and youth to prevent and reduce underage drinking and its consequences
• Promote public education of the relationship between underage alcohol consumption and human development and maturation
• Support research on adolescent alcohol use and human development
• Improve public health surveillance on underage drinking and risk factors
• Apply policies consistently at all levels to prevent and reduce underage alcohol consumption