Drinking and partying, according to many, is just "part of the college experience." And some believe that the 21-year-old drinking age keeps collegiate alcohol use hidden and hard to deal with, so they're proposing lowering the legal age to 18 years old.

"MADD [Mothers Against Drunk Driving] is urging parents to reconsider the safety of schools whose presidents want to re-evaluate the 21-year-old drinking age..."

Studies have shown that up to 40 percent of college students have some symptoms of alcohol abuse. One educator believes that problem won't be eliminated by a lower drinking age. Source: WWAY3 News Channel (Wilmington, NC)

Labels: binge_drinking, drinking_age, underage_drinking

An Associated Press analysis of government records found that alcohol poisonings among young adults doubled between 1999 and 2005, the last years for which statistics are available.

The study, which looked at college-aged adults, ages 18 to 23 years, found that more than 80 percent of victims were under age 21, and most were males. Death rates increased on weekends.

In 1999, 18 young people drank themselves to death, compared to 35 in 2005. In nearly every case, the person died when he or she was "sleeping it off." In 40 percent of the cases, there was a criminal investigation as to how the young adult was served too much alcohol.

One reason more young people are dying by alcohol poisoning may be the popular practice of having 21 alcoholic drinks on a person's 21st birthday.

Read "Beer Pong" and "21 Ritual" Can Be Deadly to learn more.

Labels: alcohol_abuse, binge_drinking, college_students

When Jonathan Gibralter became president of Frostburg (Maryland) State University, one of the first things he did was institute a zero-tolerance policy on drug and alcohol use. Though some students were upset, many thanked him.

"Gibralter's public stand places him in a growing but still small minority of university presidents who openly acknowledge that substance-abuse issues are present on campus. Progressive colleges and universities are shifting their primary efforts from individual users to the entire campus community..."

Gibralter said his decision was influenced, in large part, by his experience running a drug and alcohol prevention program at another university. During his service in that capacity, Gibralter said, he and his wife urged the school's president to take action against the institution's glaring drug and alcohol problems. Source: University Business

Labels: binge_drinking, college, prevention

Researchers with St. Louis' Washington University School of Medicine have determined that women who begin drinking at a younger age face an increased likelihood of becoming dependent upon alcohol later in life.

"An early age at the onset of drinking is a strong predictor of subsequent alcohol dependence," said Richard A. Grucza, Ph.D., who authored the study. "About one in three individuals who start drinking at age 17 or younger become alcohol dependent. For those who wait until age 21 or older, that number is one in ten."

Grucza, an assistant professor of psychiatry at WU, was quoted in a press release about the study that was posted on the school's website:

"In our previous work, we found that women born after 1944 had a substantially higher risk for alcohol dependence compared to those born prior to that. Now we have found that women born during this 'high risk' period also began drinking earlier than their predecessors, and this earlier drinking might explain the higher rates of alcoholism.

As the age of drinking onset got lower for women, the rates of alcohol dependence increased. ...There is a lot of discussion about whether the minimum drinking age should be lowered again. Our findings would suggest that from a public-health point of view, lowering the legal drinking age might lead to increased rates of alcohol dependence."

Grucza and his team analyzed data that had been compiled during the 1991-1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey and the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, which was completed in the early 1980s.

The results of the study are scheduled to be published in the August 2008 edition of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Labels: addiction, binge_drinking, girls

On an average day, 13,000 teens and pre-teens try alcohol for the first time. Studies have shown that people who start drinking at age 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol-dependent than are those who wait until they're 21.

"The sky is falling on our teens and young adults, and there is plenty of responsibility to go around: from permissive parents who think it's better to have their teens drink at home than risk drunk driving to colleges and universities turning a blind eye to ever-increasing binge drinking on campuses and at local bars."

The National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse found that alcohol misuse cost the United States $220 billion in 2005; more than the cost of cancer or childhood obesity. Now that summer is in full swing, teens have a lot more free time, and parents have the responsibility of making sure that time is used well. Source: The Free Lance-Star

Learn more by reading Higher Risks in Early Drinkers.

Labels: addiction, binge_drinking, underage_drinking

Alcohol use is more prevalent among young people than any other drug. The average age at which a young person takes his first drink is just 13, and 80 percent of all college students drink.

"Yet the consequences of underage drinking are described as 'astonishing in their range and magnitude' by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University, increasing morbidity and mortality rates by 200 percent between middle childhood and early adulthood."

About 5,000 people under the age of 21 die every year in alcohol-related incidents. Those who aren't killed may be faced with the early onset of alcoholism or developmental delays that they'll carry throughout their lives. Source: Redwood City Daily News

Learn more about the long term effects of binge drinking at DrugRehabTreatment.com.

Labels: binge_drinking, long_term_drug_use

British psychologists have found that teen binge drinking causes losses in short-term memory.

Researchers at the University of Northumbria found that heavy drinking - five or more drinks in one sitting - caused teens to perform poorly on tests of memory. Particularly affected was "prospective memory," which involves remembering to do everyday tasks such as calling a friend. The students in the study were 17 to 19 years old.

Dr. Thomas Heffernan said the harm might become long-lasting or permanent. "They could be storing up problems for their futures," he said.

The study was presented at the conference of the British Psychological Society.

Read more about the long term effects of binge drinking at DrugRehabTreatment.com.

Labels: binge_drinking, effects, memory

Officials at the Rock Hill (South Carolina) Keystone Substance Abuse Center say that teenage drinking is getting worse. By "worse" they don't necessarily mean it's becoming more prevalent, but the teens that are drinking a lot more.

"...many underage drinkers no longer simply drink to get high but instead drink to induce oblivion. This binge-style often revolves around drinking games in which drinkers ingest large amounts of alcohol quickly, sometimes to the point where they suffer alcohol poisoning and have to be rushed to the hospital."

Many of the drinking games played by teens cause them to ingest five to seven shots in an hour. It takes the body about an hour to break down the alcohol contained in just one shot or can of beer. Source: The Rock Hill Herald

Labels: alcohol, alcohol_abuse, binge_drinking

Last Wednesday, the Coalition for a Drug Free Nevada County hosted a town hall meeting intended to inform parents of the dangers of teen binge drinking. Unfortunately, few parents attended the meeting.

"The incidence of young men getting into a fight due to intoxication is huge, Callahan said. It's equally common for young girls to find themselves in physically vulnerable positions at parties because they're drunk, she added."

Lack of parental involvement and lack of understanding about the dangers of teen drinking lead to increased drinking incidents and also can lead to trouble with the law for both parents and teenagers. Read more at TheUnion.com.

Labels: binge_drinking, parental_involvement

An entire generation of parents and educators has pushed to "open doors" for girls, working to ensure that girls have many of the same opportunities as boys. But the new-found equality extends beyond career and education into some unfortunate territory.

"Teenage girls now equal or outpace teenage boys in alcohol consumption, drug use and smoking, national surveys show. The number of girls entering the juvenile justice system has risen steadily over the past few years."

Girls simultaneously talk about feeling empowered to attend almost any college or pursue any career they wish and also feeling free to explore the "party" scene, which typically includes clubs, alcohol and drugs. Now more than ever, girls need parents who are active in their lives, helping them navigate previously uncharted water. Read more at Charlotte.com.

Copper Canyon Academy is an all girls boarding school for troubled teen girls. Their beautiful campus in Rimrock, Arizona, offers a safe, structured environment for troubled teenage girls.

Labels: binge_drinking, girls, influences

Increasing numbers of British teenagers are binge drinking and getting into trouble because of it, according to a new study from the British government.

Researchers in the Positive Futures program surveyed 1250 young people ages 10 to 19 years. Over 40% said they started to drink before age 13, and 29% reported that they drink to get drunk. Half had been in fights when drinking, and 24% got in trouble with the police. Half said that their parents did not care.

"We need to tackle a wider drinking culture and together make certain that parents and peer groups are involved," said Clare Checksfield, chief executive of Crime Concern, which manages Positive Futures. "Young people are taking risks with their health and with their futures by getting involved in alcohol-related violence."

Labels: binge_drinking, crisis, cultures

People who start drinking after young adulthood are less likely to become binge drinkers, according to a study from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Berkeley, CA.

Dr. Marcia Russell and her colleagues used data from a five-year study in New York. They found that risks are lower for people who start drinking after age 21 years and who drink only in moderation.

"Drinking patterns associated with early peak and stable drinking trajectories were distinctly different," she wrote. "Early drinkers drank fewer years, less frequently and consumed less volume of alcohol over their lifetimes but they averaged more drinks per drinking day and had higher rates of episodic heavy drinking and intoxication."

This study appears in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Binge drinking and general adolescent alcohol use can cause chaos in even the most stable families. Learn what you can do about adolescent substance abuse at DrugRehabTreatment.com.

Labels: addiction, binge_drinking, research

The new show "Gossip Girl" on the CW, which tells the stories of Upper Manhattan's elite teens, glamorizes teen drinking - but the truth of underage drinking is much more sobering. The U.S. Surgeon General's office says that a quarter of the country's alcohol sales are attributed to underage drinkers.

"Although the overall percentage of drinkers has held fairly steady for the past five years, the most recent statistics from that survey show teens have begun drinking at younger ages, and binge drinking has surged - with nearly 7.2 million teens reporting they sometimes down five or more alcoholic beverages in a single setting."

Though the media often glamorizes underage drinking, parental influence far outweighs that of the media. Unfortunately, a high percentage of teens say that they drink at parties that are supervised by adults. Some admit that their parents buy alcohol for them. What small influence the media may have can be counter-acted by parents who model the motto "just say no".

Teens struggling with alcohol and drug addiction need a safe, secure, and structured environment to get back on track. SunHawk Academy is a residential treatment center in a boarding school setting. Learn more at www.sunhawkacademy.com.

Labels: alcohol_abuse, binge_drinking, underage drinking

Several new studies that employ high-tech tools like MRIs are proving that the human brain is not fully developed until age 25 or so. Some scientists, such as Jay Giedd, head of the brain imaging project at the National Institute of Health and Dr. Deborah Yurgelun-Todd of Harvard Medical School are using this new data to urge changes in public policies. They and others argue that teenagers should not be allowed to drive, enlist in the military or vote.

However, other scientists are looking at the evidence in a different way. They argue that people ages 35 to 54 years old are the ones who behave the most irresponsibly. Here are some statistics:

Since 1975, there has been a 550% increase in the number of deaths by drug overdose among the middle-aged. Over 370,000 middle-aged people were admitted to emergency rooms in 2004 for drug overdoses, and 18,250 died, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Middle-aged people are 30% more at risk for automobile accidents than teenagers.

There are 21 million middle-aged binge drinkers - twice the percent of college-aged binge drinkers. Binge drinking is defined as five drinks in a row taken once a week.

About four million middle-aged people were arrested in 2004 - one million committed violent crimes and 500,000 involved drug arrests. There has been a 600% increase in the number of middle-aged people in American prisons since 1975.

Learn about the value of boarding school for middle school aged children at Boarding Schools for Girls.

Labels: addiction, adults, binge_drinking

Teens who binge drink are more likely to develop drug habits, become homeless, and engage in criminal behavior as adults, according to a long-term British study.

Dr. Russell Viner of University College London and Professor Brent Taylor of the Institute of Child Health studied more than 11,000 Britons born in 1970 through the year 2000. They found that by age 16, about 20 percent were binge drinkers and 25 per cent were regular drinkers. By age thirty, the binge-drinking group was 40 percent more likely to have a drug habit, and 60 percent more likely to be homeless.

Dr. Viner noted that binge drinking "brings a distinct set of problems of its own."

This study appears in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Learn more about teen binge drinking at DrugRehabTreatment.com.

Labels: binge_drinking, criminal_activity, drug_use

Professor Lorraine Collins of the University of Buffalo/New York has determined that young adults who are heavy drinkers of malt liquor are at greater risk to use marijuana and develop substance abuse problems.

She and her colleagues surveyed 639 adults under 25 years who regularly drank 40 or more ounces of malt liquor every week. The participants were heavy drinkers who averaged 30 alcoholic drinks a week, about half of which was malt liquor. Most had started drinking between 13 and 14 years old. About half of the malt liquor drinkers also reported smoking about 20 marijuana cigarettes a week too.

Malt liquor has a high alcohol content (6 to 11%) and is often marketed to young people. This study appears in the June 2007 issue of the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

If you are a parent and worried aobut teen alcohol and drug abuse, visit ByParents-ForParents.com to learn what signs to look for and how to help your child.

Labels: awareness, binge_drinking, gateway_drugs

Chris Volkmann thought she had a nearly perfect family. Until her youngest son, Toren, called to tell her that he was in an alcohol drug treatment program. His recovery exercises and her responses formed the foundation of the book they wrote together, From Binge to Blackout; a Mother and Son Struggle with Teen Drinking.

"Once Toren's symptoms nearly broke him, both he and his mother faced the issue courageously. Chris takes responsibility for doing what many mothers are doing everywhere: ignoring her intuition and dismissing numerous clues as she holds on to her picture of their perfect life, and Toren takes responsibility for being a manipulative addict trying to keep his secret drinking problem from not just her, but himself."

The book is called "highly informative" because of the depth of information shared by both mother and son. Chris is honest about the "red flags" she saw but ignored, and she shares the wealth of self-taught information she learned after hearing of her son"s struggle. For his part, Toren gives readers an inside look at the life and mind of a teen binge drinker, dispelling many myths and misconceptions. Read more at GilroyDispatch.com.

Labels: binge_drinking, signs, treatment

The number of patients between the ages of 16 and 25 being treated in Victoria for alcohol-related brain injuries rose 16 percent in the last ten years. Many attribute this rise to the high concentration of bars and clubs in the city center.

"Staff at Arbias, which provides support to people with alcohol or substance-related brain damage, are treating about 600 young people annually in Melbourne, up from about 120 a decade ago."

There are currently more than 1,000 establishments in Melbourne's city center that are licensed to serve alcohol. Many of them are open well past 1am. These and other statistics are causing many in Australia to call for the legal drinking age to be raised to twenty-one. Read more at TheAge.com.au.

Parents struggling with troubled teens and drugs can find help at ByParents-ForParents.com. Read The Signs of Drug and Alcohol Abuse in Teenagers to learn more to learn more about underage and binge drinking.

Labels: binge_drinking, brain_damage, underage drinking

A study of 10,000 15- and 16-year-olds found that teens that get larger allowances are more likely to drink. The conclusion drawn by the British researchers who conducted the study is that the higher allowances enable teens to buy their own alcohol.

"About one-third of teens in the survey said they bought their own alcohol, and they were six times more likely than their peers to drink in public places, three times more likely to drink frequently and twice as likely to binge on a regular basis."

The researchers used the study to call for parents to better regulate how their teens spend money, and also for better enforcement of laws that prohibit the sale of alcohol to minors. Read more at Reuters.com.

Labels: affluence, binge_drinking, money

Outside the Classroom is a Boston-based company that makes a software program called AlcoholEdu which is used to discourage dangerous drinking on college campuses. It recently bestowed its Prevention Excellence Award to seven colleges, including Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts.

"Bentley implemented a truly comprehensive program,' Erika Tower, director of Communications and Marketing for Outside the Classroom, said in an email. 'Not only did they implement AlcoholEdu as a required program for all first-year students, but they also created a new campus organization called SAFE: Students for Alcohol-Free Events; conducted educational training in residence halls, with member of Greek life, and with athletic teams; and changed their class schedule to reduce high-risk drinking on their campus (among other things)."

Other winners included the University of Alabama, University of Iowa, and the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Read more at DailyNewsTribune.com.

Labels: binge_drinking, college, high_risk_drinking