New Report: Underage Drinking Is Declining, But Still a Major Problem

“Data show meaningful reductions in underage drinking, particularly among younger age groups. From 2004 to 2012, young people ages 12 to 20 showed statistically significant declines in both past-month alcohol use and binge alcohol use,” according to the 2012 Report to Congress on the Prevention and Reduction of Underage Drinking, from the Secretary of Health and Human Services, released on November 30, 2012.  However the new summary of the latest scientific research confirms that “alcohol continues to be the most widely used substance of abuse among America’s youth, a greater proportion of whom use alcohol than use tobacco or other drugs.”

The annual report was prepared by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) on behalf of the federal Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD). SAMHSA administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. serves as the ICCPUD Chair. In her Foreword to this fourth report in the series, Hyde notes that it includes a new section on prevention of binge drinking on college and university campuses, and an expanded section about underage drinking prevention and enforcement activities in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Access to the new Report to Congress is included in this announcement available at http://www.stopalcoholabuse.gov: