Problems Caused by Under-Age Drinking

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Problems Caused by Under-Age Drinking

Every year 100,000 people die as a result of alcohol (Biddulph 2003:37). And one age group that has a high number of these is teenagers. But wait, isn't the legal drinking age 21? So how do teenagers get a hold of alcohol? Most teenagers can buy their own alcohol (Richards 2001:7). That is one major problem that contributes to teen drinking. Also, alcohol is so easy to get that most high school students have at least tried alcohol (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 2004). Teens are encouraged to drink by their peers and by alcohol advertising (Richards 2001). Alcohol in the hands of teenagers is devastating. Over consumption of alcohol leads to many health complications and is the leading cause of death in homicides, suicides and car accidents (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 2004). Just by the statistics it is obvious that alcohol is a major threat to teenagers. Maybe if it was possible to stop people from drinking while they were young they would have no desire to drink later in life. Joseph A. Califano, Jr. said, "A child who reaches age 21 without smoking, abusing alcohol or using drugs is virtually certain never to do so" (Focus Adolescent Services 2000). So one solution could be to make sure that all stores card customers to make sure that they are of the legal drinking age. Another would be to ban alcohol altogether, but that didn't exactly work the first time. Teen drinking a big social problem that needs to be addressed. Right now it has just gotten out of hand, and if nothing is done about it, it will just continue to get more and more out of control.

The legal drinking age in all fifty states is 21 but still underage people ...

... middle of paper ...

...AAA, retrieved November 5, 2004 (http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/about/underage.htm#statistics)

Pringle, Laurence. 1997: Drinking: A Risky Business. New York 10019: Morrow Junior Books.

Reaves, Jessica. 2002. "Kids Turning Quicker to Liquor." Time, February 27. Retrieved November 5, 2004 (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,213250,00.html)

Richards, Pamela G. 2001: Just the Facts: Alcohol. Chicago, Illinois: Heinemann Library.

Song, Sara. 2003. "The High Cost of Teen Drinking." Time, September 22. Retrieved November 5, 2004 (http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1101030922-485760,00.html)

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