Posted under Public Policy

Minimum Legal Drinking Age Laws Under Scrutiny

There is a debate among several college presidents over lowering the drinking age on college campuses to 18. Richard A. Grucza, from Washington University and his colleagues believe this would be dangerous for young adults on college campuses. Continue Reading

Posted under Teens

Thanksgiving Eve Night Biggest Night for Underage Drinking According to Poll

According to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, or MADD, the night before Thanksgiving is a bigger night for minors drinking than prom night or even graduation. MADD cautions that parents need to realize that it is illegal to host events that allow minors to drink at their homes. Continue Reading

Posted under Alcohol

Teenagers Soaking Gummy Bears in Alcohol to Get Drunk

Just when you think teenagers can’t come up with any other creative ways to get drunk or high, along comes the gummy bear. According to a recent article on the Huffington Post, the American Academy of Pediatrics found that over four million young teenagers are drinking alcohol in any given month. Continue Reading

Posted under Celebrity Addiction

Kristin Davis Overcomes Alcohol Addiction

Kristin Davis, the lovely 43-year-old actress best known for her six-year role as Charlotte on "Sex and the City," says that she is a recovering alcoholic who never tastes the many Cosmopolitans sent her way by star-struck fans. On the show, her character favored the drink, but for Kristin Davis it is a risk just not worth taking. Continue Reading

Posted under Public Policy

County Social Host Liability Effective at Combating Underage Drinking

Underage drinking is extremely common among US teens and is becoming increasingly problematic because when teens drink, they tend to binge drink. Binge drinking is defined as a heavy consumption of alcohol over a relatively short period of time for the purpose of becoming intoxicated. Binge drinking is a major public health issue as it leads to automobile accidents and fatalities, rape, violence, suicide and unintentional overdose. Although binge drinking is most often associated with college age students, the number of binge drinking episodes among high school kids is on the rise.

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Posted under Alcohol

Wine Vending Machines Near University of Pennsylvania Draw Concern

A controversial new vending machine has cropped up in Pennsylvania: wine “kiosks,” where consumers can purchase bottles of wine from vending machines by swiping their driver’s license, looking into a camera, and blowing into a breath sensor. One of these vending machines was placed in a supermarket that serves college students at University of Pennsylvania, drawing fire from critics. The state’s Liquor Control Board plans to place them in about 100 stores.

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Posted under Teens

Teens Tend to Drink More During Summer Before College

Parents of high-school seniors beware: A new study has found that teens tend to increase their alcohol consumption during the summer before they start college. Mark Wood, a psychology professor at the University of Rhode Island and a well-known alcohol researcher, says that parents should keep a closer eye on their children during this time period, making sure they know what their kids are doing and with whom.

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Posted under Teens

National Underage Drinking Prevention Campaign Focuses on Parents of Young Teens

It’s not easy getting through to today’s youth. As any good educator knows, trying to reach young people with important messages requires creativity, consistency and continuity. This especially applies to communication about the dangers of substance abuse – in this case, underage drinking. A new national campaign targeting the parents of younger teens, those between the ages of 11 and 15, seeks to do just that.

SAMHSA and Ad Council Partner on Campaign

In conjunction with April’s Alcohol Awareness Month and as part of the Surgeon General’s “Call to Action to Prevent to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking,” the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Advertising Council have created a powerful new series of national PSAs to encourage parents to talk to their children about drinking alcohol at an early age.

In a press release announcing the new campaign and study, SAMHSA Administrator, Pamela S. Hyde, J.D., said, “Prevention is the number one priority of SAMHSA, and reducing underage drinking is a key part of that effort. Underage drinking is a national crisis putting the lives millions of Americans at risk as well as the futures of many of our youth.” Talking about the partnership, she continued, “The national campaign SAMHSA is undertaking with the Ad Council aims at bringing to bear the most effective weapon against underage drinking – conversations between parents and their children.”

But the two partners aren’t strangers to such awareness campaigns. SAMHSA and the Ad Council first launched the national Underage Drinking Prevention campaign in November 2005. The Ad Council’s own tracking study showed that since the launch, there has been a significant increase in the number of parents who are extremely concerned about underage drinking. Now, parents’ concern is comparable on such issues as sex, drug use, and academic performance. Continue Reading