Statistics
A 2008 Study found that young adults aged 18 to 22 enrolled full time in college were more likely than their peers not enrolled full time to use alcohol in the past month, binge drink, and drink heavily. Past month alcohol use was reported by 63.7 percent of full-time college students compared with 53.5 percent of persons aged 18 to 22 who were not enrolled full time. Binge and heavy use rates for college students were 43.6 and 17.2 percent, respectively, compared with 38.4 and 12.9 percent, respectively, for 18 to 22 year olds not enrolled full time in college.
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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2008). Results from the 2007 National
Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings (Office of Applied Studies, NSDUH Series H-34,
DHHS Publication No. SMA 08-4343). Rockville, MD.
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k7nsduh/2k7Results.pdf
In 2001, 23 percent of underage college students reported obtaining alcohol from a parent or relative, up from 17 percent in 1993.
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Wechsler, Henry, et al. “Underage College Students’ Drinking Behavior, Access to Alcohol, and the Influence of Deterrence Policies: Findings from the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study.” Journal of American College Health 50.5 (2002): 223-36. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/cas/Documents/underminimum/
Young adults aged 18 to 22 enrolled full time in college were more likely than their peers not enrolled full time to use alcohol in the past month, binge drink, and drink heavily. Past month alcohol use was reported by 66.4 percent of full-time college students compared with 54.1 percent of persons aged 18 to 22 who were not enrolled full time. Binge and heavy use rates for college students were 45.5 and 19.0 percent, respectively, compared with 38.4 and 13.3 percent, respectively, for 18 to 22 year olds not enrolled full time in college.
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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “Results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings,” Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Applied Studies, 2007. http://oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k6nsduh/2k6Results.cfm#Ch3
57.8 percent of full-time college students aged 18 to 20 used alcohol in the past month, 40.1 percent engaged in binge alcohol use, and 16.6 percent engaged in heavy alcohol use.
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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “Underage Alcohol Use among Full-Time College Students,” Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Applied Studies, 2006. http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k6/college/collegeUnderage.htm
Underage alcohol use is more likely to kill young people than all illegal drugs combined.
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Grunbaum, J.A., et al. "Youth risk behavior surveillance: United States, 2001." MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report51(SS0 4):1–62, 2002.
Young, S.E., et al. "Substance Use, Abuse and Dependence in Adolescence: Prevalence, Symptom Profiles and Correlates". Drug and Alcohol Dependence68(3):309–322, 2002.
Each year, drinking by college students, ages 18-24, contributes to an estimated 1,700 student deaths, almost 600,000 injuries, almost 700,000 assaults, more than 90,000 sexual assaults, and 474,000 engaging in unprotected sex. In 2001, 2.8 million college students drove a car while under the influence of alcohol.
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Hingson, Ralph, et al., “Magnitude of Alcohol-Related Mortality and Morbidity among U.S. College Students Ages 18-24: Changes from 1998 to 2001.” Annual Review of Public Health 26 (2005): 259-279.
The total cost attributable to the consequences of underage drinking was $61.9 billion per year in 2001 dollars. This is $5.4 billion in medical costs, $14.9 billion in work loss and other resource costs, and $41.6 billion in lost quality of life.
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Miller, Ted R. et al. “Societal Costs of Underage Drinking.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 2006 Jul; 67(4):519-28.
In 2007, the U.S. Surgeon General estimates that approximately 5,000 persons under age 21 die from alcohol-related injuries involving underage drinking each year.
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2007). http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/underagedrinking/calltoaction.pdf
In 2001, there were approximately 119,500 alcohol-related visits to the emergency department involving people under the age of 21.
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Elder, R., et al. "Alcohol-Relared Emergency Department Visits among People Ages 13 to 25 Years." Journal of Studies on Alcohol 65, no. 3 (2004): 297-300.