NCJ Number
233638
Date Published
December 2009
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Using annual averages for the combined data from the 2002-2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), this study examines alcohol use among respondents before and after age 21.
Abstract
Among persons surveyed during the 30 days prior to their 21st birthdays, 86.1 percent had used alcohol in their lifetime, including 62.8 percent whose first consumption of alcohol was before age 18. Rates of past month and binge alcohol use (drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion on at least 1 day in the past 30 days) were higher among young adults who had recently had their 21st birthdays than among those who were 20 years old. Rates of past month and binge drinking among 21-year-olds declined and then stabilized in the months following reaching 21 years old, but their rates still remained higher than those for 20-year-olds. The debate on lowering the legal drinking age is based partially on the assumption that lowering it would not have a significant effect on the rate of alcohol consumption among young adults. The results of the current study, however, indicate that reaching the legal drinking age (21 years old) is related to higher rates of past-month and binge alcohol use. Using the information on the respondents' birth date along with the date they were interviewed, it was possible to examine lifetime, current, and binge alcohol use among persons aged 20 or 21 in time periods before and after reaching age 21. 1 table and 1 figure