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More than 40% of individuals who begin alcohol consumption at age 13 or younger will develop alcohol dependence. (suffer from Alcoholism)
-Source: Grant B.E., Dawson, DA, 1997. Age onset of alcohol use and association with DSM IV alcohol abuse and  dependence, Results from the National Longitudinal Study

Young people ages 12 to 20 saw two beer or ale ads in 2001 for every three such commercials aired on programs viewed primarily by adults.

A recent report found that substance abuse and addiction will add at least $41 billion—10 percent—to the costs of elementary and secondary education this year, due to class disruption and violence, special education and tutoring, teacher turnover, truancy, children left behind, student assistance programs, property damage, injury and counseling.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA)

Our voice is the only hope for accountability.  Below you will find information gathered from many sources, our hope is this information will be used to educate those in need of real information to bring about real hope for our children, and communities.

• Alcohol is the leading cause of death for Louisiana Youth
• Alcohol is involved in roughly 50% of all homicides, suicides, and fatal traffic crashes
• More undergraduates will die from alcohol-related causes than will receive advanced degrees

  What are the consequences of underage drinking?

  Fatalities: In 1994, underage drinking killed an estimated 6,350 youth ages 12-20, more than 6 times the fatalities resulting from other illicit drug use (980). [Miller & Covington, 1999]

  Alcohol-involved traffic fatalities: One-third of all deaths for people ages 15-20 result from motor vehicle crashes. In 1997, more than one-third of these motor vehicle fatalities involved alcohol. [NHTSA, 1998]

  BAC levels of alcohol-involved traffic fatalities: More 18- and 19-year olds died in low BAC (between .01 and .09) alcohol-related crashes than any other ages. In fact, 17-, 18-, 19-, 20-, and 21-year olds are the top five ages of people that die in low BAC crashes. [NHTSA, 1998] This statistic shows that even low levels of alcohol are dangerous for young people.

  Rate of death for licensed drivers: For every 100,000 licensed drivers, young drinking drivers are involved in fatal crashes at approximately twice the rate of drivers aged 21 and older. [NHTSA, 1998]

  Economic costs attributable to underage drinking: Costs of underage drinking from new costs paper [miller paper, 1999]

  Future alcohol disorder problems: People who begin drinking before age 15 are four times as likely to develop alcohol dependence and more than twice as likely to develop alcohol abuse than those who delay drinking until age 21. [Grant & Dawson, 1997]

  Academic problems: A clear relationship exists between alcohol use and grade-point average among college students: students receiving grades of D or F drink three times as much as those who earn As. [Presley & Meilman, 1996]

  Risk of physical violence: A national survey of college students found that binge drinkers were 3.5 times more likely than their non-bingeing counterparts to have been a victim of physical violence. [Presley et al., 1997]

  Risk of sexual victimization: Three-fourths of college students who were victims of unwanted sexual intercourse said they were drinking or using other drugs when they were victimized. [Presley, et al., 1997]

Young Minds

• The available evidence suggests that adolescents are more vulnerable than adults to the effects of alcohol on learning and memory. (White, 2001)
• Alcohol affects all parts of the brain, which also affects the heart rate, coordination, speech, and destruction of brain cells. (Narcotic Educational Foundation of America, 2002)
• It has become clear over recent years that alcohol impacts both behavior and brain function differently in adolescents and adults. (White, 2001)
• The brain does not finish developing until a person is around 20 years old, and one of the last regions to mature is intimately involved with the ability to plan and make complex judgments. (Swartzwelder, 1998)
• Alcohol may encourage aggression by disrupting normal brain mechanisms that normally restrain impulsive behavior such as aggression. (Hingson et al, October 2001)
• The brain continues to grow through the age of 20. (Giedd et al, 1999)
• Heavy drinking over many years may result in serious mental disorders or permanent, irreversible damage to the brain or peripheral nervous system. (Narcotic Educational Foundation of America, 2002)
• Recent research indicates that, in contrast to previous assumptions, the brain continues to undergo a tremendous amount of development through adolescence and into young adulthood. (White, 2001)

Is there fair information and warning on product's connected by consumption, to Alcoholism?