The Advocate
Fall 2006
Volume 7, Issue 4
Quarterly Publication of the Kansas Drunk Driving Prevention Office
KDOT Sponsors “Sobriety Rocks”
Scholarship Contest
December is 3D Month:
Start Planning Now
On the heels of Heather Shelley’s hit song, In My Time, The Kansas Department of
Transportation (KDOT) has established the 2006 Sobriety Rocks Scholarship Contest.
Kansas residents between the ages of 10 and 21 are encouraged to enter the competition by logging onto www.inmytime.net and following the registration process. A
complete set of competition rules and guidelines can also be found on the site. The
deadline for all entries is March 1, 2007.
Three separate $1,000 scholarships
will be awarded on May 21, 2007, for
best original lyrics, best original musical
score and best original song (lyrics and
score). It is possible for one contestant to
win in all three areas or three separate
contestants could win a portion of the
prize. A total of $3,000 in college scholarships to any Kansas state supported
institution of higher learning will be
awarded.
“In 2005, 63 percent of Kansas
students in grades eight through 12 reported having consumed alcohol in their
lives,” said Pete Bodyk, Chief of KDOT’s
Bureau of Traffic Safety. “We are excited
to hear the next great song that will encourage the youth of Kansas to resist the
temptation of drinking alcohol before the
The new single by Heather Shelley and her band,
legal age limit of 21. Like Heather
Nitehawk , inspired the creation of the KDOT
Shelley’s In My Time, we expect it to
Scholarship contest.
become a popular song across the state
that will help young Kansans resist alcohol pressure from their peers.”
Songs can be any format or style of music including, but not limited to, rap, heavy
metal, rock, country, alternative or pop. Potential song topics might include drinking
alcohol as a result of peer pressure, the use of alcohol as an avoidance method, or
depression, family trouble and other social problems that are often created or made
worse by alcohol.
Continued on page 3
It is never too early to begin planning
your efforts to promote National Drunk and
Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month,
marked each December in our country.
The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) is again offering a
Holiday Promotional Planner for your convenience at www.nhtsa.dot.gov (click on
Traffic Safety tab and review Campaign
Planners and Related Materials).
This Holiday Promotional Planner is
intended to provide you with some earned
media tools and marketing templates you
can tailor and distribute to fit your local
objectives while partnering with other communities to promote safe driving across
Kansas. The planner includes both enforcement and social norming messages for the
holiday season. Significantly increased
enforcement combined with aggressive
marketing can be most effective in achieving real results.
The Kansas Drunk Driving Prevention
(KDDP) Office stands ready to assist you
with ideas, informational brochures and
incentive items to complete your plans.
And, some of our brochures are available
in Spanish for communities with Hispanic
populations. Download the KDDP Materials Order Form at ksdot.org, (click Safety
Information on left; KDDP Office on right;
under Resources, Materials Order Form)
complete it and fax to (785) 233-5222.
In This Issue
New National Impaired Driving Theme
Industry Profits on Underage Buyers
Keeping it 21
Internet Alcohol Marketing
Societal Costs of Underage Drinking
Shailushi Baxi
Ritchie of the
Marin Institute
to speak at
Kansas EUDL
Conference.
Lillian Spencer
named Executive
Director of new
MADD regional
office.
Erica Mahan
crowned Miss
Teen Kansas;
tackles drunk
driving.
Page 3
Page 5
Page 6
NHTSA’s New Theme Supports
High Visibility Enforcement
Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under
Arrest. is the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) new
national impaired driving prevention
campaign. It focuses on combining high
visibility enforcement with heightened
public awareness about one of America’s
deadliest crimes – drunk driving.
Kansans and the rest of the nation
were introduced to the new theme during
the recent Labor Day Holiday Mobilization
that featured an aggressive crackdown on
impaired drivers by law enforcement and
highway safety organizations.
“Make no mistake. Our message is
simple. No matter what you drive – a
passenger car, pickup, sport utility vehicle
or motorcycle – if we catch you driving
impaired, we will arrest you. No exceptions. No excuses,” said Colonel William
Seck, Superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol.
Driving with a blood or breath alcohol
concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher is
illegal in every state. For Kansans under
the age of 21, the Zero Tolerance Law
limit is .02 BAC.
“Drunk driving is simply not worth the
risk. Not only do you risk killing yourself
or someone else, but the trauma and
financial costs of a crash or an arrest for
impaired driving can be significant,” said
Seck. “Violaters often face jail time, the
loss of their driver’s license, higher insurance rates, attorney fees, time away from
work and dozens of other expenses.”
New Drunk Driving. Over the Limit.
Under Arrest. marketing materials are
available on the
NHTSA website at
www.nhtsa.dot.org
(click on Traffic Safety
and go to Campaign
Planners and Related
Materials).
FREE
Color Posters
Available
1-877-715-3377
[email protected]
The Alcohol Industry’s Most Valuable Customers Include Underage Drinkers
A groundbreaking study conducted by
researchers at The National Center on
Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at
Columbia University, reveals that underage drinkers are among the most valued
customers of the alcohol industry.
The Commercial Value of Underage
Drinking and Adult Abusive and Dependent
Drinking to the Alcohol Industry revealed
that 26 percent of underage drinkers in
the United States meet the clinical criteria
for alcohol abuse and addiction. These
young pathological drinkers consume
nearly half, 47 percent, of all alcohol
drunk by underage drinkers.
Together, adult pathological drinkers
and those underage drinkers who meet the
clinical criteria, consume between 38 and
49 percent of the value of all alcohol sold
2
in this country. That is more than two and
one-half times the 10 percent of adult
drinkers who meet the criteria for pathological drinking and consume 25 percent
of all the alcohol drunk by adult drinkers.
“Consuming at least $48 billion in
beer, wine and liquor, underage and adult
pathological drinkers are the alcohol industry’s most valuable customers,” said
Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA’s chairman
and president and former U. S. Secretary
of Health, Education and Welfare. “It is
reckless for our society to rely on an industry with such an enormous financial
interest in alcohol consumption by children, teens, alcoholics and alcohol abusers to curb such drinking. Self regulation
by the alcohol industry is a delusion that
ensnares too many children and teens.”
Other findings of the study revealed
that alcohol abuse and addiction cost the
nation an estimated $220 billion in 2005,
more than cancer ($196 billion) and obesity ($133 billion). Each day more than
13,000 children and teens take their first
drink.
“It is critical for our nation to put an
end to this senseless savagery that alcohol
abuse and addiction visit on our children
and teens – in deaths from auto accidents
and risky sex and alcohol poisoning, rape,
murder, suicide and other violence,”
Califano added, as he urged parents,
colleges and the media, as well as alcohol
industry executives to accept personal
responsibility to help curb underage and
adult pathological drinking.
The Advocate
Stay Sober and Reap
the Rewards
Being the sober driver among a
group of partying friends may not
seem like much fun, but there
are unique perks beyond getting
yourself and friends home safely.
Consider the following:

The next day while your
friends are nursing the after
effects of a night spent drinking
– dizziness, nausea, vomiting
and headache – you’ll be
feeling wonderful.

When people are drinking,
they tend to say things they
don’t mean to or reveal secrets
that shouldn’t be told. You
have the benefit of knowing
that your secrets are secure;
you can sit back and enjoy the
free-flowing conversations.

Alcohol makes people do
foolish things without regard
for self-esteem or respect.
You can be the group
photographer, recording
your friends in some
humorous situations for later
embarrassment.

You’ll rest easy the next
day, knowing that you didn’t
make a fool of yourself at the
office party or drinking with
coworkers, which can lead to
unpleasant office gossip.

You’ll actually be able to
remember what a good time
you had the night before while
everyone else questions their
actions and the behavior of
others.
Arrive Alive
Don’t Drink & Drive
Kansas Drunk Driving Prevention Office
Topeka to Host Statewide
Conference on Enforcing
Underage Drinking Laws
The fifth annual Kansas Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Conference will be held
Thursday, November 2, at the Holiday Inn Holidome, 605 SW Fairlawn Road, Topeka.
Registration brochures were mailed to recipients of the KDDP newsletter in September.
This year’s conference, “You are the Essential Piece in Enforcing Underage Drinking
Laws,” will focus on the latest trends in underage drinking. It is co-sponsored by the
Kansas State Nurses Association and the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Keynote Speaker Jim Mosher, Pacific Institute of Research and Evaluation (PIRE), will
open the conference with a presentation addressing “Alcopops: Marketing to Kids in
America.”
The luncheon will feature Shailushi Baxi Ritchie of The
Marin Institute speaking about taking on the alcohol industry in your community. She has been successful in
preventing alcohol sponsorship at county fairs in Marin
County, California.
Again this year, three tracks will be offered to participants: youth, community and law enforcement. Bill Patterson, Law Enforcement Liaison for PIRE, will facilitate a
workshop for law enforcement officers on party disbursal
and new techniques for enforcing underage drinking laws.
Local media will also present a workshop for law enforcement officers.
Other speakers include: Karen Wittman, Assistant
District Attorney for Shawnee County; Erica Mahan, Miss Shailushi Baxi Ritchie is a feaTeen Kansas 2006; Mary Gordon, PIRE; Ashleigh Drury, tured speaker at the 2006 Kanstudent; Joe Garman, Kansas Alcoholic Beverage Control; sas EUDL Conference. As Adand Maria Torrez Anderson, Kansas State SADD (Students vocacy Manager at the Marin
Against Destructive Decisions) Coordinator.
Insititute, Shailushi helps
Hotel reservations can be made by calling (800) 822- communities fight the alcohol
0216 or (785) 272-8040 or by visiting www.topekahol- industry’s tactics related to
idome.com (code K29). A special group rate of $72 (plus event sponsorship and product
tax) is available; please reference “The Kansas State promotions.
Nurses Association conference on November 2.” Reservations must be made by Wednesday, October 11.
There is no charge to attend the conference and lunch will be provided. However,
advance registration is requested as seating is limited. The conference begins with checkin at 7:45 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. For more information, please contact Becky Crawford
at (785) 233-8638 or [email protected].
Scholarship Contest Continued
All entries will be judged by a panel of experts consisting of music instructors, KDOT
representatives and music industry professionals. Judging will be based on originality,
the passion and persuasiveness of the message, and the potential for a successful song
that could be aired throughout Kansas.
Heather Shelley’s In My Time is available for free download on the site. CDs are
available at upcoming Heather Shelley shows throughout the state and from the Bureau
of Traffic Safety, among other venues, all at no charge. On tour, the band will be performing the song live.
Log onto www.inmytime.net for additional information, a complete set of rules or to
enter the KDOT 2006 Sobriety Rocks Scholarship Contest.
3
The Top Five Reasons We Should Keep the Drinking Age at 21
by Hon. Karen Arnold Burger
Overland Park Municipal Court
“We can’t stop kids from drinking, so
why don’t we just lower the drinking age
back down to 18? They are adults for all
vote, smoke, marry, drive, fly, pay taxes,
take out loans, hold public office, serve on
a jury and fight for their country,, so what’s
the big deal? Let’s stop spending all this tax
money and law enforcement officer time
fighting a loosing battle!”
I often hear this refrain as I speak to
adults in our community. In fact, many
Kansas parents today grew up in an era in
Kansas when they could drink 3.2% beer
when they were 18. Why did that change
and should it be changed back? Some
believe that allowing drinking at younger
ages would mitigate youthful desire for
alcohol as a “forbidden fruit.” Before I
share my “top five” reasons we should
keep the drinking age at 21, let’s take a
little trip back in time and examine how
the current law came to be.
After Prohibition was repealed in 1933,
the decision as to what the legal drinking
age should be was left up to each individual state. Until 1970, the minimum
drinking age in most states was 21. As
part of the war protests of the 1960’s,
youth started lobbying for a lowered voting age and a lowered drinking age. “Old
Enough to Fight…Old Enough to Vote”
were popular bumper stickers and buttons
of the era. In 1971, the 26th Amendment
was adopted, lowering the voting age to
18 and drinking ages likewise started to
be lowered around the country. Between
1970 and 1976, 21 states reduced the
minimum drinking age to 18. Another 8
reduced it to 19 or 20. However, these
states immediately noticed sharp increases
in alcohol-related fatalities among teenagers and young adults. As a result, of the 29
states that had lowered their drinking age,
24 raised the age again between 1976
and 1984. By 1984, only three states
allowed 18-year-olds to drink all types of
alcoholic liquor. The others adopted some
sort of stair-step age requirement based on
the type of liquor being consumed.
Federal transportation authorities viewed
this hodge-podge of state laws as a real
highway traffic safety problem. Alcoholrelated traffic injuries and fatalities were
increasing and some of this was as a result
4
of kids traveling from their home states to
neighboring states that had lower drinking
ages and then becoming injured or killed
as they returned to their home states. These
became known as “blood borders.” In
1984, Congress enacted the National Minimum Drinking Age Act which had been
recommended by President Reagan’s Commission on Drunk Driving. States were
threatened with the loss of 10% of their
federal highway funds if they did not raise the
minimum drinking age in their state to 21 for
all alcoholic beverages. All states eventually
complied so that now all 50 states have a
minimum drinking age of 21. So, that brings
us immediately to reason number one.
1. 21 SAVES LIVES.
There is now a substantial body of
scientific evidence showing that raising the
minimum drinking age in 1984 directly
resulted in reduced alcohol-related crashes
and fatalities among young people as well
as deaths from suicide, homicide, and
non-vehicle unintentional injuries. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, increasing the minimum
drinking age to 21 is credited with having
saved 18,220 lives on the nation’s highways between 1975 and 1998. Other
studies have found that it is responsible for a
19% net decrease in fatal crashes involving
young drivers, and is currently responsible
for saving approximately 1,000 young lives
each year.
2. THE BRAIN DOES NOT FULLY
DEVELOP UNTIL AT LEAST 21.
More and more research has been
released in recent years concerning the
stages of brain development. We have
learned that the brain does not finish developing until a person is in their early twenties. It appears that it is not coincidental
that fatalities increase as the drinking age
is lowered. Brain maturation culminates
in the prefrontal cortex. This is the area
that controls judgments and weighing risks
and consequences. Previously, this area
was thought to be fully mature by the age
of 18. Studies now suggest that this area
is not fully developed until around the age
of 25. What does this mean? Those under
the age of 25 are more likely to engage
in thrill seeking activity, and less able to
appreciate the consequences of risky behavior. This new research has legislators
around the country examining things like
raising the driving age and raising the age
at which a person can be executed for a
crime committed during these “formative” years. Alcohol impairs judgment and
heightens risk-taking behavior as well as
slowing perceptual and motor skills, so
given to a person who has an immature
brain function in these areas already,
research shows that the effects are even
more exaggerated. And finally, the research
indicates that alcohol or drug use during
these formative years can cause long term,
irreversible damage.
3. THE LONGER WE CAN DELAY
ALCOHOL USE, THE BETTER THE
CHANCE THAT A PERSON WILL NEVER
HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ALCOHOL.
Alcoholism is a serious medical and social problem in this country. Criminal justice experts estimate that at least 75-80%
of defendants involved in felony crimes or
serious misdemeanors were either under
the influence of alcohol or drugs when they
committed their crime or committed their
crime to obtain money to obtain alcohol or
drugs or to survive because they have lost
their financial resources due to their addiction. Decrease in work productivity due to
absenteeism, divorce, suicide, increased
medical problems, school drop out rates
and traffic collisions are just a few of the
costs associated with alcoholism. Drug
addiction rarely begins as such, but often
begins as early onset alcohol use as the
gateway for further experimentation. For
every year we delay the onset of drinking, studies have shown we substantially
increase the likelihood that our child will
NEVER have a problem with alcohol or
drugs. NEVER. We know that alcohol use
effects an adolescent brain differently than
it does an adult. We know that because of
this addiction onset can occur much sooner
in a teenager (6-18 months) than an adult
(5 years). The explicit aim of existing policy
is to delay underage alcohol use as long
as possible and, even if use begins, to
reduce its frequency and quantity as much
as possible.
Continued on page 5
The Advocate
MADD Heartland Region Opens Office
The new Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Heartland Region, covering
Kansas and Missouri, has opened an office at 3675 Noland Road, Independence, Missouri (Zip Code 64055).
Regional Executive Director Lillian Spencer (pictured) and Regional Office
Administrator Beverly Livingston will staff the office from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday. Telephone numbers for the new office are 866-8846233 (toll free), 816-254-5200 and 816-254-5215 (FAX). Electronic mail may
be directed to Lillian Spencer at [email protected].
The former Kansas MADD office continues to operate for victims of drunk
driving at 3601 SW 29th Street, Topeka. Victim Advocates Max Sutherland
and Karen Smart can be reached at 785-271-6199, 785-271-0797 (FAX) or
[email protected].
Top Five Reasons Continued
4. THE POLICY DOES WORK, PREVENTING “LOW-HANGING FRUIT.”
Allowing drinking at younger ages
would not mitigate youthful desire for
alcohol as a “forbidden fruit,” it would
merely make alcohol more available to
an even younger population, replacing
“forbidden fruit” with “low-hanging fruit.”
The practices and behaviors of 18 yearolds are particularly influential on 15 - 17
year-olds. If 18 year-olds get the OK to
drink, they will be modeling drinking for
younger teens. Legal access to alcohol for
18 year-olds will provide more opportunities for younger teens to obtain it illegally
from older peers.
We do have the benefit of some studies
that were done before the drinking age
was raised nationwide in 1984. The 1978
National Study of Adolescent Drinking
Behavior found that 10th - 12th graders
in states with lower drinking ages drank
significantly more, were drunk more often,
and were less likely to abstain from alcohol. Additionally, national data show that
high school seniors who could not legally
drink until age 21 drank less before age
21 and between ages 21 - 25 than did
students in states with lower drinking ages.
Countries with lower drinking ages suffer
from alcohol-related problems similar to,
and in some cases worse than, those in
the U.S.
Kansas Drunk Driving Prevention Office
Certainly, the large numbers of current
underage drinkers breeds frustration, but
the studies show that the numbers would
be much worse if the drinking age were
lowered.
5. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
REGULATIONS ALLOW MEMBERS
OF THE ACTIVE MILITARY WHO ARE
UNDER 21 TO CONSUME ALCOHOL
IN CONTROLLED SITUATIONS.
And what about this “Old Enough to
Fight…Old Enough to Drink” argument?
Well, the fact is, if your child has volunteered to serve in the military, when the going gets tough, there is a good chance he
or she will be allowed to have a drink.
In the “old days” anyone on active
military duty could consume alcohol on
military installations, regardless of the
legal drinking age off-base. However,
in the mid-80’s federal law was changed
requiring military installation commanders to adopt the same drinking age as the
state the military base is located in. At all
oversees military installations, the drinking
age is 18 unless international treaties or
agreements mandate a higher age. So if
your child is risking his or her life overseas,
and there is no treaty prohibiting alcohol
on base, he or she may drink at 18.
In addition, the commander of a
military installation may waive the drinking
age requirements state-side, if such commander determines that the exemption is
justified by special circumstances. Special
circumstances are those infrequent, nonroutine military occasions when an entire
unit, as a group, marks at a military installation a uniquely military occasion such as
the conclusion of arduous military duty or
the anniversary of the establishment of a
military service or organization. The event
must be held on a military installation. The
commander is required to ensure that appropriate controls are in place to prevent
endangering Military Service members or
the surrounding community.
Therefore, the fact that an 18-year-old
can serve in the military does not negate
all the other reasons the drinking age
should remain at 21 for those who choose
not to volunteer for such a dangerous
assignment.
In conclusion, ages of initiation vary in
this country — one may vote at 18, drink
at 21, visit the local casino at 21, rent a
car at 25, and run for president at 35.
These ages may appear arbitrary, but they
take into account the requirements, risks,
and benefits of each act. The national
minimum legal drinking age of 21 has
survived the test of time and is firmly supported by current scientific research. The
lives and futures of our children depend
on its continued support.
5
Alcohol Marketing Appeals to Youth Online
With increasing restrictions on print and
broadcast media, alcohol companies are
turning to the internet and cell phones to
market their products to underage drinkers.
The Marin Institute, a vigilant alcoholindustry watchdog, reports, “Since alcohol
companies are supposed to limit advertising
to a 30 percent or less underage audience,
they face some restrictions when it comes
to ‘measured media’ such as television and
print. But new media audiences are not
always measured carefully, so the weaker
protections and enforcement make online
marketing attractive to alcohol companies who want to get around established
codes.”
In appealing to “computer-savvy teenagers,” USA Today reported in 2004, “The
alcohol industry is using the Internet to
circumvent laws designed to keep alcohol
from minors. The ease and anonymity with
which youth can buy alcohol on the Internet
is a key issue [of concern].”
Many alcohol companies have designed their Web sites with interactive
features that appeal to youth including
games, music, contests to watch and rate
ads, and send product specific emails to
friends. Some items can be downloaded
to personal computers, iPods and other
handheld devices, such as alcohol brand
desktop wallpaper, instant messaging icons
and screensavers.
The popularity of the Internet among
teenagers is evidenced by the nine out of 10
youth who use it and the 51 percent who go
online every day. More than half of all teens
have made online purchases (Pew Internet
& American Life Project, 20 05).
A Georgetown University study reports
that on some alcohol Web sites, underage
youth make up a significant proportion of
total visitors: 58.6 percent on www.bacardi.
com, 47.4 percent on www.sky.com and 34
percent on www.budlight.com.
Advertising Age reports that AnheuserBusch, in addition to its popular Web site,
has signed a deal with Mobi-TV, a leading
provider of television content to cell phone
users, to broadcast 18 beer ads per hour.
Teenagers are leading consumers of cell
phone time.
Much of society’s debate about protecting children online has centered around
pornographic and/or sexually explicit
material. However, the Federal Trade Com-
mission and Center for Media Education
(CME) recognize the importance and challenge of protecting children from online
alcohol marketing. A nationwide poll of
parents of teens conducted for the Center
on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY)
revealed that 65 percent of parents find
the fact that alcohol companies produce
marketing Web sites aimed at young people
“very troubling.”
There are no foolproof measures for
preventing underage access to inappropriate Web sites. Parental control software
packages offer wide and uneven variations
among programs. Seventy-six percent of
alcohol brands elude parental controls half
the time or more.
According to CAMY, the appeal of
alcohol on the Internet and its ease of
access for underage youth is a continuing
concern. The alcohol industry’s Web presence remains largely a potential playground
for underage youth with little, if any, adult
supervision. The need for accountability
and responsibility on the Internet is as clear
today as it was in 1997 when CME issued
its first warnings about alcohol Web sites
and their appeal to underage youth.
Miss Teen Kansas Takes A Stand Against Drunk Driving
Erica Mahan, 17, of Neosho Rapids was crowned Miss Teen Kansas 2006 on Saturday, June
11 in Pratt. The pageant, hosted by the Miss Kansas Organization, was held in conjunction
with the Miss Kansas Pageant. The Miss Kansas Pageant is a preliminary pageant to the Miss
America Pageant. Last month Erica represented Kansas at the Miss America Outstanding Teen
competition held in Orlando, Florida.
During her year of service as Miss Teen Kansas, Erica is working to instill moral responsibility
and promote the well-being of a generation that will take a stand against people driving under
the influence of alcohol. Erica’s family was personally affected when her brother was nearly
killed by an impaired driver. As a result, she chose drunk driving prevention as her platform.
Erica attends Emporia High School where she is a senior. This honor roll student participates in chorale and plays the flute for symphonic band. Other school activities have included
cheerleading, flag team, track, Future Educator’s of America and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD). Erica is currently working to establish SADD chapters at eight other
schools. In addition, she volunteers at the local hospital where she serves as a mentor to youth
volunteers and has donated more than 175 volunteer hours. After high school, Erica’s goal is
to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing and work in occupational therapy.
This fall Erica is presenting a workshop at the Kansas Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Conference. This event will take place
on November 2 in Topeka. For more information, see the related story in this issue. To book a Miss Teen Kansas appearance, contact
the Pratt Area Chamber of Commerce at 888-886-1164 or go to www.misskansas.org.
6
The Advocate
New Information Released on Societal Cost of
Underage Drinking
The Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) has for violence, $13.7 billion for traffic crashes and $3.2 billion for
released new information about the societal cost of underage property crimes. Notable are 500,000 rapes and assaults with
drinking from a 2001 study. Previous studies, in 1991 and 1998, costs totaling $4.8 billion, including unplanned pregnancies,
did not break down the costs of alcohol problems by age.
HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Researchers at the Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies with
Put into perspective, the total cost to society of underage drinksupport from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alco- ing translates to $3 per illegal drink, of which $1 is for medical
holism estimated the magnitude of the general problem as well spending, property damage, work losses and other resource costs.
as specific problems resulting from underage drinking. This is These costs to society are far more than the taxes paid per drink,
the first peer-reviewed estimate of the resulting costs. Those costs which are an estimated $0.10 of the average purchase price of
were compared with associated alcohol sales to help interpret $0.90 (Miller Brewing Company, 2000).
the size of the problem.
Finally, the report indicates that loopholes in the legal drinkAccording to this research, underage drinking costs the United ing laws and lack of enforcement contribute to the problem of
States $61.9 billion each year. This total includes medical care, underage drinking. Another approach to reducing underage
work loss, and suffering associated with multiple problems re- drinking is to control general access to alcoholic beverages. Studsulting from the use
ies have found that
of alcohol by youth.
higher alcoholic
Costs of Underage Drinking in the United States
It translates to a cost
beverage taxes and
in Billions of Dollars (2001)
of $2,207 per year
reductions in the
for each youth in the
number and locaUnited States.
tion of retail outlets
Medical
The report also
are associated with
Spending $5.4
indicated that in a
reducing alcohol
typical month, an
consumption, espeProperty
estimated 13.2 milcially among youth.
Losses and
lion underage drinkImproved enforceResource
ers drank alcohol.
ment through reguCosts $7.8
Of American youth
lar police compliages 14-20, 47 perance checks with
cent imbibed. PIRE
servers and retailers
Work Loss
examined data from
has shown to be
Costs $7.1
the Youth Risk Beeffective in decreashavior Survey (YRBS)
ing alcohol accesQuality of Life
indicating that 63
sibility to underage
Costs $41.6
percent of underage
youth. Aggressively
youth drank heavily.
prosecuting fakeDaily consumption
identification venaveraged 4.3 drinks
dors and improving
Total Costs = $61.9 Billion
for youth compared
age-checking techwith 2.9 drinks for
nology could further
adults. Alcohol consumed by underage drinkers in 2001 ac- reduce youth access to alcohol.
counted for at least 16.2 percent of U.S. alcohol sales estimated
Studies of school-based or related family interventions have
at $18.1 billion and generating $2.0 billion in tax revenues.
reported reductions in the prevalence of alcohol use for students
Alcohol sales to youth led to an estimated 3,170 deaths and who receive the program. Programs aimed at the harms of alcoalmost 2.6 million injuries and other costly events in 2001. This hol use, such as zero tolerance for drivers under age 21 and a .08
total includes an estimated $5.4 billion in medical spending, $7.8 legal BAC limit for all drivers, have been effective in preventing
billion in property losses and other resource costs, $7.1 billion in alcohol-related crashes and youth fatalities. Brief interventions by
work losses, and the loss of nearly 368,000 quality-adjusted life doctors have been effective at identifying and curtailing problem
years (QALY) valued at $41.6 billion (the estimated value of a drinking among older adolescents.
statistical life is at least $3.5 million U. S. dollars, 2003). Putting
In light of the associated substantial injuries, deaths and high
the life-year loss into perspective, the fatal and nonfatal health costs to society, youth drinking behaviors clearly merit the same
losses were the equivalent of losing 13,297 young lives, because kind of serious attention that illicit drug and tobacco use have
a life span of 27.7 life years awaits those at age 18.
received in recent years.
Crime and impaired driving dominated the costs, totaling
The full report is available at http://www.iiaaonline.org/
$51.6 billion; broken down the total represents $34.7 billion studies.php.
Kansas Drunk Driving Prevention Office
7
The Advocate is a quarterly publication of the Kansas
Drunk Driving Prevention Office, a program of the Kansas
Department of Transportation.
This information is available
in alternative accessible formats. For more information,
contact KDDP.
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Topeka, KS
Permit #997
1208 SW Tyler
Topeka, KS 66612-1735
Address Service Requested
Toll Free: 1-877-715-3377
Phone: 785-233-1448
Fax: 785-233-5222
Email : [email protected]
KDDP Staff:
Michele Reese
Program Administrator
Julie Faust
Program Specialist
Cathy Savage
Program Evaluator
Amy Boyles
Office Assistant
Calendar Notes
Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day
October 10
www.brakesonfatalities.org
SADD Red Ribbon Campaign
October 23-31
www.sadd.org
Kansas Enforcing Underage Drinking
Laws Conference
November 2, Topeka
[email protected]
MADD “Tie One On” Red Ribbon Campaign
November 15 - January 1
www.madd.org
Featured Sites
Alcoholic Beverage Control
www.ksrevenue.org/abc.htm
Alcohol Policies Project
www.cspinet.org/booze
Casey’s Premature Goodbye
www.remembercasey.com
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
www.madd.org
Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation (PIRE)
www.pire.org
Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA)
www.samhsa.gov
Teen Get Going
www.teengetgoing.com