Consequences of High Risk and Underage Drinking
Traffic crashes
Approximately 1/3 of all deaths among 15- to 24-year-olds are from traffic crashes,
and in
22% of fatal crashes involving young drivers, the young driver was drinking.
An estimated 24,000 traffic fatalities have been prevented since 1975 due to
minimum
drinking age laws.
Suicide
Up to 38% of adolescent and adult suicide victims (attempted and completed) test
positive
for alcohol.
Rape and sexual assault
General alcohol use and binge drinking are shown to be associated with sexual
and physical
assault victimization among adolescent girls.
Alcohol use - by the victim, the perpetrator or both - has been implicated in
at least half of
rapes of college women.
Alcohol availability
Alcohol is readily available to underage youth from both commercial sources (liquor
stores,
convenience stores) and social sources (parties, friends, parents); youthful
buyers are able to
buy alcohol in approximately 30-50% of purchase attempts.
Drowning
Alcohol has been linked to up to 30-70% of drownings among adults and adolescents.
Risky sexual behavior
Teens who drink alcohol, particularly those who binge drink, are more likely
to engage in risky
sexual behavior.
A national survey of teens snowed that alcohol use was strongly associated with
having
numerous sexual partners.
College
57% of underage college drinkers report that they paid less than one dollar for
a drink, got it
free, or paid a set price for an unlimited number of drinks.
Approximately one-third of college drinkers report having at least once forgotten
where they
were or what they did due to drinking.
High School
One-third of high school students nationwide reported that at least once in the
last month they
rode with a driver who had been drinking alcohol.
Junior high and high school students who drank alcohol in early adolescence were
more likely
to have academic and employment problems.
Source: Alcohol Epidemiology Program, University of Minnesota
