Greater risk for our children .Alcohol is number one abused drug in the country, Is the warning label on alcohol clear?

Casa Report on Alcohol Effects on Schools

U.S. Enforcement agency phone numbers for underage drinking laws.

The highest prevalence of both binge and heavy drinking in 2002 was for young adults aged 18 to 25, with the peak rate of both measures occurring at age 2.
SAMHSA 2003

Alcohol Labeling

Landmark report and call for action by the NAS 9/03 read overview here

Alcohol is a drug or it isn't!  Read outrage on Alcohol being excluded from the "Drug Policy" efforts
 

Q&A on Addiction

Message Boards

Children of Parents with Alcohol& Drug  Addiction
 

Parents have a special relationship with their children. Theirs is a deep emotional tie coupled with a great sense of responsibility. A child’s problem with alcohol can be devastating. Many will go to any lengths to fix the problem, as these parents attest:

Until recently, my son was single, living at home with me. In an effort to be a good parent and stand by him, I did everything I could to bail him out of trouble—and jail. I paid his fines, helped him find work, and provided transportation for several years when his license was revoked. During those years, our house seemed to be in constant chaos as we ricocheted from one crisis to another.

My children had a habit of stealing my credit cards and running up charges all over town. Since these were debit cards, the bank automatically deducted the charges from my bank account. As a result, my account was frequently overdrawn, and I felt obligated to scurry around covering the charges, even when I had nothing to do with them. I felt unspeakably resentful about this because money was so tight, but I didn’t recognize that I had any choice.

In Al-Anon, parents of alcoholics learn that they are not alone, and that they can learn to detach and let their children take responsibility for their own lives.

[Al-Anon literature] suggested that I could choose not to do for others what they could do for themselves. It said I didn’t have to cover up for another’s mistakes or misdeeds, and that in Al-Anon we learn not to suffer because of other people’s actions. I interpreted this to mean that it was high time I stopped paying for items I hadn’t purchased and could not afford. So when I got the next phone call from the bank, I told them that the card had been used without authorization, and unless my signature was on the charge, I would not pay it. I directed them to my kids and told them to take whatever action they felt was appropriate. I felt embarrassed, guilty, and sure that I was ruining the lives of my children. But I knew that these feelings were not reliable gauges of reality. I stuck to my guns. Then…I confronted my children myself. I told them that the next time they stole from me, I would report the theft to the police. I meant it. I never had another problem with the credit cards.

The last time my son was locked up for drinking and driving, he had to spend seven days in jail, pay a large fine, and lose his driver’s license for another year. While he was in jail, I decided it was time for me to stop taking responsibility for his life and the consequences of his choices. This time I wouldn’t “help.” When I visited him in jail, I told him that I would not pay his fines and that when he got out of jail he would have to find another place to live. Who can blame him? He had heard it all before. But in Al-Anon I had learned not to make threats unless I intended to carry them out. I repeated my position several times in the next few days and set what I felt was a reasonable time limit within which he was to remove his belongings from my home. Finally he realized that I was serious. Soon after that, he made his own living arrangements and moved out.

As these stories attest, in Al-Anon meetings parents of alcoholics can find the support they need to make changes in their ways of dealing with an alcoholic child. All are welcome in the over 26,000 Al-Anon (including Alateen for younger members) meetings held in 115 countries. Local meeting information can be obtained by calling the national (US and Canada) toll free meeting line, 1-888-4-AL-ANON (1-888-425-2666, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 6 pm ET). Additional information is available on the Al-Anon/Alateen Web site, www.al-anon.alateen.org.

Member stories excerpted from How Al-Anon Works for Families & Friends of Alcoholics, ©1995, Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc.