Add alcohol to this mix and you have the potential for lifelong and life-threatening consequences.
Young people are especially vulnerable to the effects of drinking. They may think that because they're in good health now, drinking won't hurt. But it can have devastating consequences-today and later in life.
You can't ignore the facts. According to the Ninth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health, substance abuse may impair adolescents ability to make judgments about sex and contraception, placing them at increased risk for unplanned pregnancy, sexual assault, or becoming infected with a sexually transmitted disease, including HIV/AIDS.
According to a study released in December 1999 by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, teens 14 and younger who use alcohol are twice as likely to have sex than those who don't, and teens 15 and older who drink are seven times likelier to have sexual intercourse and twice as likely to have it with four or more partners than non-drinking teens. What's more, numerous studies have shown that adolescents are more likely to engage in unprotected sex when they drink alcohol than when they do not.
Every year about 3 million teens are infected with a sexually transmitted disease. Among sexually active teens, those who average five or more drinks daily are nearly three times less likely to use condoms, thus placing them at greater risk for contracting sexually transmitted diseases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that fewer than 1 percent of AIDS cases occur in adolescents, whereas persons in their 20s account for 20 percent of all cases. Because of the incubation period between exposure to HIV and the onset of AIDS symptoms (as long as 10 years), the high rate of AIDS among people in their 20s may be a consequence of infection during the teen years.
There are other disturbing numbers. One national study of teenagers found that about half had been drinking and/or using drugs before the act of intercourse that resulted in unintended pregnancy. Each year about one million teenaged girls in this country become pregnant, and 80 percent of those pregnancies are unintended. Alcohol use during pregnancy may result in fetal alcohol syndrome or effect.
Alcohol use is implicated in more incidents of sexual violence than any single drug, according to the CASA study. Alcohol use-by the victim, the perpetrator or both-is implicated in 46 to 75 percent of date rape cases among teens and college students.
The use of alcohol and other drugs is associated with the leading causes of death and injury (such as motor-vehicle crashes, homicides and suicides) among teenagers and young adults. A 16-year-old is still more likely to die from an alcohol-related problem than any other cause.
In addition to the immediate dangers posed by young drinkers, underage alcohol use is a strong predictor of future alcohol abuse. A recent study found that people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who begin at 21.
April has been designated as Alcohol Awareness Month by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. The theme of this month is preventing underaged drinking, and April 7-9 is Alcohol-Free Weekend. It is a good time for schools and communities to plan programs that encourage young people to avoid alcohol and offer healthy alternatives to drinking. This comes at a good time, since many schools are now busily planning proms, graduation parties and other events.
It's clear that delaying alcohol use is beneficial to the health and development of young people. Increasing awareness of the potential consequences of alcohol use is one piece to helping young people make informed, healthy choices in their lives. Parents can greatly influence those choices by practicing responsible alcohol-use behavior and establishing--and enforcing-clear no-use rules about alcohol.
--Published March 27, 2000
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Alive & Free is a health column that provides information to help prevent substance abuse problems and address such problems. It is created by Hazelden, a nonprofit agency based in Center City, Minn., that offers a wide range of information and services on addiction. For more resources, email or call Hazelden at 800-257-7810 (outside the US 651-213-4200).
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T Lewis~~
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