Article Date: 22 Nov 2012

 

Over a quarter of the population in the United States who are under the legal drinking age are drinking anyway, according to new research by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

There has been reported progress made in decreasing the degree of underage drinking recently, specifically in kids aged 17 years or younger, however, the rates of underage drinking remain unreasonably high.

In previous research underage alcohol use has been associated with adolescent brain development and future alcohol-related problems.

The current research used data from SAMHSA’s 2008 to 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), and found that 26.6 percent of 12-20 year olds said they drank in the month prior to being surveyed. It was also reported that 8.7 percent of these teens purchased their own alcohol the most recent time they drank. Read More…