Research
Alcohol continues slow, but gradual decline among U.S. teens
The 2009 Monitoring the Future Study continues to reflect longer-term, gradual decline in underage drinking among American youth. From 2004 to 2009 decreases were noted in lifetime, past year, past month, and binge drinking prevalence rates of alcohol consumption among all three grade levels. Perceived availability of alcohol continues to trend downward, reaching record low levels in 2009 among teens. The declines in alcohol consumption may be a reflection of the decline in the reported availability of alcohol. Reported availability of alcohol among 8th graders declined significantly from 2008 to 2009 – down more than two percent to 62%.
The latest edition of the survey reveals a statistically significant decline in the annual rate of alcohol consumption among 8th graders from 2008 to 2009, reaching a historic low level of 30%. Among 10th and 12th graders annual consumption remains relatively unchanged (53% and 66%, respectively). Monthly consumption rates and occasions of being drunk in the past 30-days in 2009 also remain unchanged among all students; however, 8th graders did show a slight decline in 30-day consumption. While reaching record low levels, the proportion of students reporting they had been drunk in the past month remains the same from 2008 to 2009 across all three grade levels. According to the 2009 Study incidents of binge drinking, that is having five or more drinks in a row in the last two weeks, declined and reached a record new low level among 8th graders – less than one in ten (8%) of 8th graders reports binge drinking, 18% of 10th graders, and 25% of 12th graders.
It goes without saying that we'd all like the numbers to be zero for every category. We are pleased that The Century Council's point of sale programs such as the '65% Campaign' and the recent 'We Don't Serve Teens' initiative, as well as our continuing focus on middle school kids and their parents through our Ask Listen Learn program, are having a positive impact. We will continue to do more and encourage others to as well. Say 'yes' to a healthy lifestyle and 'no' to underage drinking.
Drunk driving statistics and facts
Many people are now thinking of Thanksgiving, family gatherings and turkey feasts, but for some this holiday also means a lot of driving. In 2008, there were 502 traffic fatalities during the Thanksgiving weekend, including 179 (or 36%) drunk driving fatalities.
On the eve of this holiday The Century Council has released its annual summary of alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The report presents the latest available state-by-state as well as trend data in easy to read graphs.
In 2008 historic low levels of drunk driving fatalities, that is fatalities involving a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of .08 or higher, were reported overall and among persons under 21 years of age. Since the inception of The Century Council in 1991, drunk driving has declined 26% nationally, and among persons under 21 the decline has been even more significant, decreasing 48%. Unfortunately, the median BAC level among drinking drivers in fatal crashes remains at .16, twice the legal limit, and hardcore drunk drivers continue account for an unequal proportion of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities. In 2008, hardcore drunk drivers were responsible for 68% of the alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities, and drivers with a BAC of .15 or higher in fatal crashes were nine times more likely to be repeat offenders than drivers with no alcohol.
The Century Council has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking – two of society’s top safety concerns – and will continue to support the enactment of comprehensive drunk driving legislation. Much progress has been made over the past 18 years in terms of drunk driving. While The Century Council cannot claim sole responsibility for these significant reductions, The Century Council has been a leader in reaching these record low levels. We hope the information presented in the report will serve as a useful reference tool in the fight to eliminate drunk driving this holiday and in the coming year.
Underage drinking linked to future alcohol abuse
An article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution highlights a recent study linking underage drinking to a greater propensity towards future alcohol abuse, especially among those already pre-disposed towards alcohol dependency.
With our Ask. Listen. Learn: Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix program, we seek to start a conversation among middle-school students, with each other and with their parents, about the dangers of underage drinking. We also emphasize that this is a dialogue that must extend through high school and on to college.
The Century Council has long believed that parents wield the power to influence their kids to say “yes” to a healthy lifestyle and “no” to underage drinking.
Check out our Ask Listen Learn website for tips on talking with kids about alcohol.
Pride survey shows signifcant decline in underage drinking
Similar to other national surveys that track underage drinking, the 2008-09 Pride survey shows significant decreases in drinking among America’s youth.
The annual survey of students in grades 6 to 12 released this month reported one-, five-, and ten-year declines in alcohol consumption among middle school students. Most notable is the significant decline in past year alcohol consumption among students in grades 6 to 8 since the 2003 introduction of The Century Council’s Ask, Listen, Learn program, designed to educate middle school students and their parents about the dangers of underage drinking.
Nearly one in four middle school students (27%) reported consuming alcohol in the past year during the 2008-09 school year, a 22% decrease over the past six years from 34%. Additionally, 65% of middle school students reported that their parents talked to them about the “problems of tobacco, alcohol, and drug use” in the past year.
While The Century Council cannot claim to be the sole influence in these reductions, it is likely The Century Council and it’s Ask, Listen, Learn initiative played a significant role.
New Insurance Institute for Highway Safety poll shows support for advanced technologies to stop drunk driving
Information released from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety today indicate most Americans support the use of advanced technologies that would prevent drivers from starting their vehicles if they were at or above the legal limit.
The Century Council, funded by distillers to fight drunk driving and underage drinking, has long supported the exploration of these advanced technologies if they are moderately priced, absolutely reliable, set at the .08 legal BAC limit, and unobtrusive to the sober driver. In fact, The Century Council’s recent research on public acceptance of advanced technologies to prevent drunk driving also reflects strong support (63%) among Americans for these innovative solutions as a means to eliminate drunk driving.
As the Federal Government and auto manufacturers work toward the development of affordable, reliable solutions that are set at the legal limit, The Century Council continues to strongly support countermeasures that will prevent drunk driving and in particular stop hardcore drunk driving. Hardcore drunk drivers are those who drive with a high blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .15 or above, who do so repeatedly, as demonstrated by having more than one drunk driving arrest, and who are highly resistant to changing their behavior despite previous sanctions, treatment, or education efforts. These hardcore drunk drivers account for the majority of alcohol-impaired fatalities. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2007, drivers with a BAC of .15 or above and who have a prior DWI conviction accounted for 77 percent of the alcohol-impaired fatal crashes nationally.
Advanced technology holds tremendous promise for stopping drunk driving. However, it will be a long time before every driver in this country owns or drives a car equipped with the new technology. In the meantime, The Century Council supports comprehensive solutions to the hardcore drunk driving problem that exists in every community across the nation. Among this hard-to-reach population, behavioral change is and for many years will be a critical component to America’s drunk driving countermeasures. The Century Council strongly believes actions must also be taken to stop hardcore drunk driving including swift identification, effective punishment that includes mandatory ignition interlock use, effective treatment with intensive supervision and monitoring, and the expansion of DWI courts. Education for America’s criminal justice professionals is also essential to our nation’s efforts.
Long-term behavior change is essential to our nation’s efforts to fight drunk driving. The Century Council and its criminal justice partners are seeking to improve DWI adjudication and have made recommendations to the United States Congress for the reauthorization of the highway bill. For more information on our Congressional recommendations, visit www.centurycouncil.org.
The Century Council Chairman Susan Molinari applauds underage drinking decline
The recent release of the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) by the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration shows that although underage drinking remains a persistent problem among youth, there are strong indications that efforts to fight underage drinking are working.
According to the newly released survey, about 10.1 million Americans between ages 12-20 report current alcohol consumption. This represents 26 percent of this age group for whom alcohol is illegal. The rates of past month alcohol consumption by those aged 12-20 all declined from the previous year. In 2008, 26.4 percent of 12-20 year olds reported drinking alcohol in the past month – a decrease of 5 percent, while 17.4 percent reported that they participated in binge drinking – a decrease of 6.5 percent. Additionally, 5.5 percent of 12-20 year olds used alcohol heavily in the past month, defined as binge drinking five or more days in the past month – a decrease of 8.3 percent. All of these figures represent the largest single year decrease for each respective category.
While the decreases are a positive sign, there is still much more work to do. One such area is among students in college drinking, where the pattern of higher rates of consumption among full-time college students (18-22 year olds) has remained relatively unchanged since 2002.
The Century Council will continue its comprehensive efforts to ensure that underage drinking continues to decline.