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Alcohol use is the number one drug problem among young people. It's easy to understand why. For adults, alcohol is legal, widely accepted in American culture and easily accessible. Many kids can get a drink right in their own homes.

Drinking younger

Teenagers are drinking younger and more frequently than previously, often beginning around age 13, according to studies. The average number of alcoholic drinks among college students is five in a single occasion, according to a recent survey. Among those younger than 21, it is 5.5 drinks, and among those 21 and older, it is 4.2 drinks.

Deadly consequences

The numbers show when young people and alcohol mix, there are deadly consequences. Most teenagers' deaths are associated with alcohol. Partnership for a Drug-Free America found more than 6,000 died in alcohol-related traffic accidents a year. Ironically, alcoholic beverages most associated with "happy hour" have a host of other very unhappy results, such as alcoholism, other drug use and alcohol poisoning.

Peer pressure

Young people almost always begin drinking because of peer pressure, in an attempt to be accepted and included in the group. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, more than half of junior and senior high school students drink alcoholic beverages. More than 40 percent of those who drink admit to drinking when upset, 31 percent said they drink alone, 25 percent report they drink when bored and 25 percent said they drink to get "high."

Another recent survey shows about 10 million Americans between ages 12 and 20 reported having at least one drink. Of those, 4.4 million were binge drinkers, meaning they drank to get drunk.

Binge drinking

This is a deadly, serious problem on college campuses today. In 1997 Harvard University's School of Public Health surveyed students at 130 colleges for a college alcohol study and found about two of every five college students engage in binge drinking. Frequent binge drinkers at college were 22 times more likely than non-binge drinkers to have problems, such as missed classes, falling behind in school work, getting in trouble or hurt and engaging in unplanned sexual activity.

Some facts from the Harvard study

• Forty-three percent of U.S. college students engaged in binge drinking during the two weeks before the survey.

• Nearly half of the men had five or more drinks in a row; 39 percent of the women had four or more consecutive drinks.

• Caucasian students age 23 and younger, involved in athletics and members of a fraternity or sorority were more likely to binge drink.

• Students who were binge drinking in high school were three times more likely to do so in college.

College presidents rank binge drinking as the most serious problem on campus. In recent years, when a series of fatalities were attributed to drinking, the problem has received more attention.

Alcohol and drugs a priority?

Even before the Harvard study, alcohol problems on campus were documented. For example, a 1991 study found each year, students spend $5.5 billion on alcohol, more than they spend on soft drinks, tea, milk, juice, coffee or books combined. On a typical campus, students spend $446 each for alcohol, which far exceeds the per capita budget of the college library.

Some facts about young people and alcohol use

• About two-thirds of teenagers who drink report they can buy their own alcoholic beverages. (Department of Health and Human Services study)

• People who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who begin at 21. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)

• Young people who drink alcohol are 7.5 times more likely to use illicit drugs and 50 times more likely to use cocaine than young people who never drink alcohol. (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University)

• More than three out of every four students have had alcohol by the end of high school with almost half by the eighth grade. More than half of twelfth graders and a fifth of the eighth graders have been drunk at least once. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2004 Monitoring the Future study)

• A clear relationship exists between alcohol use and grade point average (GPAs) among college students: Students with GPAs of D's or F's drink three times as much as those who earn A's.

For  More  Information:  Please  consult  your  physician  on  your  next  visit.