Reason to support enforcement

Reason to support enforcement, and close the loophole in our existing mandatory 21 Law:

The younger a person begins using alcohol, the greater the chance of developing alcohol dependence or abuse some time in their life. Of those who begin drinking at age-18, 16.6% subsequently are classified with alcohol dependence and 7.8% with alcohol abuse. If a person waits until age-21 before taking their first drink, these risks decrease by over 60%.

Grant, BF and DA Dawson, “Age of Onset of Alcohol Use and Its Association with DSM-IV Alcohol Abuse and Dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Study,” Journal of Substance Abuse, 9:103-110, 1997.

AMA facts on Youth and Alcohol:

The Adolescent Brain

• The brain goes through dynamic change during adolescence, and alcohol can seriously damage long- and short-term growth processes.

• Frontal lobe development and the refinement of pathways and connections continue until age 16, and a high rate of energy is used as the brain matures until age 20.

• Damage from alcohol at this time can be long-term and irreversible.

• In addition, short-term or moderate drinking impairs learning and memory far more in youth than adults. Adolescents need only drink half as much to suffer the same negative effects.

• "Our brains go through important transformations during adolescence," says Sandra Brown, Ph.D., chief of psychology services at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Diego and whose brain research is included in the report. "This study shows that alcohol use during the adolescent years is associated with damage to memory and learning capabilities as well as to the decision-making and reasoning areas in the brain."

Underage drinking is a factor in nearly half of all teen automobile crashes, the leading cause of death among teenagers.

Louisiana ranks 2^nd in the nation for alcohol related highway fatalities

· Alcohol use contributes to youth suicides, homicides, and fatal injuries – the leading cause of death among youth after auto crashes.

Louisiana’s youth are more likely to die from an alcohol related injury than any other cause of death.

· Alcohol abuse is linked to as many as two-thirds of all sexual assaults and date rapes of teens and college students.

· Alcohol is a major factor in unprotected sex among youth, increasing their risk of contracting HIV or other transmitted diseases.

· Louisiana had 9^th highest rates of live births to teens in the country

In 2000 and 2001, Louisiana ranked 8th in the list of states with the highest rates of primary and secondary syphilis.
Louisiana had the 1^sthighest rate of gonorrhea nationwide in 2001
Louisiana had the 4th highest rate of Chlamydia nationwide in 2001

Environmental Policy related actions to reduce harm to youth:

· tighter controls on price and availability

· increases in Federal, State, and local taxes

· enforcement of the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) for purchase of alcohol

· legislative measures to curb driving while under the influence of alcohol

Louisiana did finally raise alcohol bac to .08 will take effect 9/03

· restrictions on the promotion, marketing, advertising, and illicit sale of alcohol to youth under 21

Louisiana has heavy marketing to youth, our culture has become numb to advertising in grocery stores, gas stations, local community events, and

· more intensive and effective public education and awareness programs

· increased access to primary health care for all young people

Louisiana has made strides here.

· improved training for primary care physicians about alcohol use and misuse

Louisiana’s LMS has not been active in supporting a reduction in underage drinking (regarding policy) or in educating youth. The Louisiana Alliance however has been very active across the state in their efforts. We do need pediatricians, and family primary care doctors to receive training in this area, and groups like HopeNetworks, Louisiana Alliance, are working with the public health in systems in Louisiana.

· Community-based interventions that are carefully designed and evaluated

· Price increases on alcoholic beverages may be especially effective at reducing addictive consumption by younger, poorer, and less educated consumers (NIAAA, 1993; Becker et al, 1991).
Alcohol beverage prices can be raised by:

Louisiana has 3 of top 92 ad markets for alcohol in country
Highest rates of children and family in poverty in the country

o increases in taxes

Not in more than 40 years

o license and penalty fees

very small compared to healthy profits of alcohol industry

o controls on discounting and drink specials

Nothing done here.

Federal Government’s stats SAMSHA
Highlights:

A binge drinker is defined as a person who drank five or more drinks on the same occasion on at least one day in the past 30 days.

In 2000, almost 7 million persons aged 12 to 20 was a binge drinker; that is, about one in five persons under the legal drinking age was a binge drinker.

The rate of binge drinking among underage persons (19 percent) was almost as high as among adults aged 21 or older (21 percent).

Underage persons who reported binge drinking were 7 times more likely to report illicit drugs during the past month than underage persons who did not binge drink.

2002 LSU Results, College Alcohol Study, Harvard School of Public Health:

1.  Began drinking regularly between ages of 13-20 (of the 18-20 year old
respondents, n= 149):
      yes = 65.8%
      no = 34.2%

2. Age at which they first drank alcohol regularly (of the 18-20 year old
respondents, n = 149):
      never = 34%
      age 13-15 = 4.7%
      age 16 = 16.8%
      age 17 = 17.4%
      age 18 = 19.5%
      age 19-20 = 7.4%

3. Number of times in the past 30 days when they drank enough to get drunk
(of the 18-20 year old respondents, n = 149):   never = 29.5%
      1-2 times = 40.3%
      3-5 times = 14.4%
      6-19 times = 15.9%

4.   Said that they or their friends usually get alcohol with no ID at
off-campus bars (of the 18-20 year old respondents, n = 149):
      yes = 66%
      no = 23%
      don't know = 11%

5. Best describe their current use of alcohol (of the 18-20 year old
respondents, n = 149):
      abstainer = 10.5%
      former drinker = 0.6%
      infrequent drinker = 27.5%
      light drinker = 21%
      moderate drinker = 34%
      heavy drinker = 6.4%

Campus-Community Coalition for Change
Sub Sample reported to Harvard School of Public Health
LSU students who are between 18-20 years of age cannot be
generalized to that same age group within the entire state of Louisiana,
nor to students of the same age group who are attending other institutions
of higher education in Louisiana.
See 2001 Report for National Comparison

“A Matter of Degree”-10 Universities that report
To Harvard School of Public Health

Nancy I. Mathews, Ed.D
Executive Director
Campus-Community Coalition for Change
Louisiana State University

Argument Some make, that is not relevant, the law is the law we must "Say what we mean and Mean what we say"

At 18, kids can vote, join the military, sign contracts, and even smoke. Why shouldn't they be able to drink?

Response
Ages of initiation vary -- One may vote at 18, drink 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.

When age-21 was challenged in Louisiana's State Supreme Court, the Court upheld the law, ruling that "...statutes establishing the minimum drinking age at a higher level than the age of majority are not arbitrary because they substantially further the appropriate governmental purpose of improving highway safety, and thus are constitutional."(9)

Age-21 laws help keep kids healthy by postponing the onset of alcohol use. Deferred drinking reduces the risks of:

· developing alcohol dependence or abuse later in life.(10)

· harming the developing brain.(11)

· engaging in current and adult drug use.(12,13)

· suffering alcohol-related problems, such as trouble at work, with friends, family, and police