A recent study concludes that underage drinkers and adult
excessive drinkers are responsible for 50.1 percent of alcohol consumption and
48.9 percent of consumer expenditure on alcohol in the United States.
The report in The Journal of the American Medical Association
was conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse and is
being contested by the liquor industry.
A recent study concludes that underage drinkers and adult
excessive drinkers are responsible for 50.1 percent of alcohol consumption and
48.9 percent of consumer expenditure on alcohol in the United States.
The report in The Journal of the American Medical Association
was conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse and is
being contested by the liquor industry.
“The response by the liquor industry does not surprise
me,” explained Barrett Duke, vice president for research with the Southern
Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
“The findings of the report are so devastating to the
alcohol industry that they feel compelled to do all they can to discredit it.
“(However) Despite the objections of the liquor industry,
I believe this report utilized a solid methodology and that its findings are
legitimate, though disheartening.”
Drinking habits of more than 200,000 people were studied for
the report.
The proportion of 12- to 20-year-olds who consume alcohol was
estimated to be 50.0 percent, using data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
The proportion of adults age 21 or older who consume alcohol
was estimated to be 52.8 percent, using data from the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance
System.
The estimated total number of drinks consumed in the United
States per month was 4.21 billion, and underage drinkers consumed 19.7 percent
of the total.
The amount of excessive drinking by American adults (more than
two drinks per day) was 30.4 percent.
Consumer expenditure on alcohol in the United States in 1999
was $116.2 billion. Of that amount, $22.5 billion was attributed to underage
drinking, and $34.4 billion was attributed to adult excessive drinking.
The study also noted that underage drinking was beginning earlier,
with the proportion of children who started drinking by the eighth grade increasing
33 percent from 1975 to 2001. The report said that a child who begins drinking
before age 15 is four times as likely to become an alcoholic than someone who
starts at 21 or later.
“It saddens me to think that so many of our youth have
been enticed to engage in behavior that destroys millions of lives every year,”
Duke said. “No one can estimate the full cost to our nation that alcohol
abuse will exact from our youth. Many of them will never reach adulthood, many
others will be crippled by alcoholism the rest of their lives, and millions
will live with the scars of alcohol abuse.”
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuses
definition of “excessive drinking” has been questioned by the liquor
industry. A liquor industry lobbying group has vigorously attacked the study
and accused its authors of manipulating data for sensational headlines.
Duke said it is inconceivable that any responsible party would
seek to profit from the lives of the nations youth. However, the liquor
industry has not demonstrated a commitment to protect youth from its deadly
products, he said.
Indeed, their latest products – such as alcopops, fizzy
soft-drink-like beverages that allow alcohol to be introduced into the bloodstream
while bypassing the taste buds – expose a sinister campaign to raise up
another generation of alcoholics in order to keep their profits flowing.
“In their own response to the report, the liquor industry
has exposed their agenda,” Duke maintained.
As further proof of the liquor industrys intentions,
Duke referenced the assertion by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United
States that one non-profit industry organization for responsible drinking, had
spent $120 million in the last 12 years to reduce illegal and underage drinking.
“Personally, I am not impressed,” Duke said. “An
industry that spends hundreds of millions of dollars to create products and
advertising campaigns that are obviously targeted toward young, potential drinkers
is hardly acting responsibly by spending a pitiful $10 million a year to prevent
that same audience from using their product.”
Duke said it is time Americans come to grips with the truth
that the alcohol industry wants their children – and responsible adults
must resolve to counter the industrys efforts with every legal means available.
Churches must become more involved in helping their young people
understand the dangers of alcohol, and parents must decide to give up their
own alcohol use in order to set a more positive example for their own children,
he added.
“Christians must reach out to those in their communities
who are being destroyed by alcohol and provide them the support systems they
need to escape the deadly grip of alcohol,” Duke emphasized.
“Finally, we must all insist on the introduction and enforcement of laws
that protect our youth from alcohol purveyors and prosecute those who profit
from the sale of alcohol to youth.” (BP)