A recent study by the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions found that if drinking begins before the age of 15, the young person is four times more likely to become an alcoholic than if he hadn’t started drinking until he was 21 or older. As more kids turn to drinking, and turn into alcoholics as they get older, alcohol rehab centers could have a tough time meeting demand.



In the 1960s and 1970s, many states lowered the legal drinking age to 18 years old. A review of data since that time reveals an increase in alcohol related traffic deaths. This prompted advocacy groups to push for the legal drinking age to be raised again to 21 years old. By the mid to late 1980s, all states had adopted the same legal drinking age and alcohol related traffic fatalities dropped.

Nevertheless, alcohol is still used more than tobacco or drugs. According to a 2005 study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 75% of 12th graders had tried alcohol and 87% of underage college students had tried it. Unfortunately, approximately 5000 young people die every year from causes related to underage drinking: Though injury is the leading cause of death for people under 21, alcohol is a factor in many of these injuries.

As young people are still experiencing physical and organic development, alcohol has potentially harmful effects on brain development. Couple this with the results of the NIH study and you find that not only can drinking at an early age result in long term dependence, the dangers of alcohol on the system could result in any number of complications. If these young people were gotten into alcohol rehab early on, it would reduce the number of alcohol dependent adults, and ensure healthy physical development.

In March 2007, the US Surgeon General, the NIH and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released the Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking. The Call focuses on mobilizing parents, schools, communities and young people to work together to reduce the problem and helping people gain an understanding of the potential developmental damage from underage drinking. The Call To Action also hopes to continue research on this vital subject.

If we are to truly confront this problem, an increase in education of young people on the effects of alcohol is a must. To continue to address the effects of alcoholism as a whole, the availability of an effective alcohol rehab program must be made a priority.