UNDERAGE DRINKING TASK FORCE
of Jackson County
"Alcoholism is not an adult issue, it is a teenage issue."
More than 40 % of youth who begin drinking before the age of 13 will develop alcohol dependence by the time they are an adult (CSAP prevention alert 2002).
- Alcohol is the most commonly used drug among 12-20 year olds.
- 12% of 8 th graders, 22% of 10 th graders and 28% of 12 th graders reported engaging in heavy drinking, defined as having five (5) or more drinks in a row at one time during the two weeks preceding the survey. (Monitoring the Future Data, 2004).
- Children of alcoholics are at four to ten times greater risk of becoming alcoholics as compared to children with no alcohol family member (Russell, 1990).
- Alcohol is the main cause of death for people under the age of 21. About 5,000 youth a year die from injuries related to underage drinking. These figures include 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 from homicide, and 300 from suicide (Alcohol Research & Health, Vol. 28, No. 3, 2004/05, p.113).
- Yearly, more than 600,000 students ages 18-24 are victims of an assault by a student who has been drinking. More than 70,000 students are victims in an alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape incident (Hingson et al., 2002).
The Underage Drinking Task Force of Jackson County seeks to promote alliances within Jackson County and the state to provide multiple interventions in doing something about the problem of alcohol and other illegal drugs regarding our youth. The task force meets bi-monthly on the east and west side of the county.
