NCJ Number
139886
Date Published
Unknown
Length
72 pages
Annotation
This volume contains three reports published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Substance Abuse Prevention: (1) Youth and Alcohol: A National Survey. Drinking Habits, Access, Attitudes, and Knowledge; (2) Youth and Alcohol: A National Survey. Do They Know What They're Drinking? and (3) Youth and Alcohol: Laws and Enforcement. Is the 21-Year-Old Drinking Age a Myth?
Abstract
The first survey, designed to ascertain how junior and senior high school students obtain, view, and consume alcohol, found that over half the students had consumed at least one drink in the 12 months preceding the survey, more than 5 million students have binged, and more than 3 million students drink alone. These adolescents lacked essential knowledge about alcohol and its effects; most were able to purchase alcohol for themselves; many accepted rides from friends who had been drinking. The second survey focused on the students' knowledge about alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, finding that most students could not correctly identify which beverages were alcoholic, for example, wine coolers, beer, and Cisco, or which contained the highest percentages of alcohol. The final survey summarized here examined current State liquor laws and their enforcement, and found that many have loopholes allowing minors to drink and that State and local agencies have trouble enforcing youth alcohol laws because of budget and staff reductions, low priority of youth alcohol enforcement, and lack of ABC jurisdiction over minors. Other impediments to enforcement were difficulty in preventing use of false identification and public indifference.