Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2016)
2D COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL May 18, 2016 MADD WHY21 Addressing Underage Drinking More than 25,000 lives have been saved in the U.S. thanks to the 21 Minimum Legal Drinking Age. This law continues to prevent trag- edies—decreasing crashes by an esti- mated 16 percent9 and keeping young people safer from many risks. Sometimes, without knowing all the facts, people assert that youth shouldn’t have to wait until they’re 21 to drink. James C. Fell, a public health researcher at the Pacifi c Institute for Research & Evaluation, responds to their questions. Why do we make young people wait until 21 to drink alcohol? Many activities have ages of initiation. A person must wait until age 16 to start driving, age 18 to marry without parental consent, age 35 to become president, and so on. The age limit for alcohol is based on research which shows that young people react differently to alcohol. Teens get drunk twice as fast as adults, but have more trouble knowing when to stop. Teens naturally overdo it and binge more often than adults. Enforcing the legal drinking age of 21 reduces traffi c crashes, protects young people’s maturing brains, and keeps young people safer overall. Can’t parents teach their teens how to drink alcohol responsibly by giving them small amounts—under supervision—be- fore they reach 21? Some states permit parents to do this with their own child (rarely, if ever, with someone else’s child), but there’s no evi- dence that this approach actually works. As matter of fact, there is evidence to contrary. When teens feel they have their parents’ approval to drink, they do it more and more often when they are not with their parents. When parents have concrete, enforced rules about alcohol, young people binge drink less. Would lowering the legal drinking age make alcohol less of a big deal, and less attractive to teens? History says no. When states had lower legal drinking ages in the U.S., the underage drinking problem was worse. For example, before the 21 minimum legal drinking age was implemented by all states, underage drunk driv- ers were involved in over twice as many fatal traffi c crashes as today. dition, there are clear health risks associated with underage drink- ing. History speaks for itself For almost 40 years, most states voluntarily set their minimum drinking age law at 21. In the late 60s and early 70s, 29 states lowered their drinking age to more closely align with the newly reduced military enlist- ment and voting age. The results were immediate -- drunk driving crashes and alcohol-re- lated fatalities increased signifi cantly in those states. And not just in those states -- "blood borders", where young people would drive to a state with a lower drinking age, drink, and crash on their return, cropped up across the country. As a result, 16 states had increased their drinking ages back to age 21 by 1983. Confronted by the failure of the 18 mini- mum drinking age, the President Com- mission on Drunk Driving recommended establishing a national 21 minimum drinking age. President Reagan agreed and on July 17, 1984, he signed into law the Uniform Drinking Age Act mandat- ing all states to adopt 21 as the legal drinking age within fi ve years. By 1988, all states had set 21 as the minimum drinking age. Since that time, the 21 minimum drinking age law has saved about 900 lives per year as estimated by the Na- tional Traffi c Highway Administration (NHTSA). In short, there are more than 25,000 people alive today because of the 21 minimum drinking age law in every state. Additionally, underage drinking rates also fell and continue to fall. From 1991 to the present, annual use of alcohol among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders has dropped 56%, 33%, and 18%, respec- tively. Teen Brain The Developing Brain Alcohol and the Teen Brain The human brain continues to grow into a person's early 20s. Drinking alcohol during that time can damage short and long-term brain growth and that dam- age can be permanent. And it's not just heavy drinking that can impact teens -- teens who drink half as much alcohol as adults can still suffer the same negative effects. Teens are more likely to suffer blackouts, memory loss, and alcohol poisoning from drinking, as well as to cause damage to their ability to remem- ber things in the future. All parts of the growing brain are impacted negatively by alcohol, but the memory function is especially hard hit. So, what impacts does that have on a teen? Well, adolescent drinkers perform worse in school, are more likely to fall behind and have an increased risk of social problems, depression, suicidal thoughts and violence. Also, because the brain (specifi cally, the regulation of the brain through serotonin, which provides balance and impulse control) becomes used to the use of alcohol, people who begin drinking in their teens are not only at greater risk for developing alcoholism sometime in their lives, they are also at greater risk for developing alcoholism more quickly and at younger ages, espe- cially chronic, relapsing alcoholism. Looking Glass Community Services We serve youth ages 11-17 with; • Family Reconciliation • Emergency Shelter and Basic Needs 541-767-3823 508 E Whiteaker • Cottage Grove • www.lookingglass.us Manufacturer of High Grade Domestic and Export Douglas Fir Lumber 541-942-0168 I thought Europeans have fewer underage drinking problems … is it because their kids drink from an earlier age? That’s a myth. European countries have worse prob- lems than America does, as far as binge drinking and drinking to intoxica- tion. Studies show that Europe has more underage drunkenness, injury, rape, and school problems due to alcohol. Since alcohol is more available there, it actually increases the pro- portion of kids who drink in Europe. Some people propose a 40-hour alcohol education course for teens that would entitle teens to drink before 21. Is this a good idea? Research shows that edu- cation alone doesn’t pre- vent risky behaviors. For example, driver education by itself does not reduce youth car crashes. Begin- ning drivers need other restrictions in place, such as curfews and passenger limits, to stay safe. In ad- P.O. Box 547 Cottage Grove, OR w w w. s t a r f i r e l u m b e r. c o m Jeff Williams, LTC Deanna Mathis, LTP T: 541-942-7790 F: 541-942-7811 E: taxmanjeff@gmail.com taxladydeanna@gmail.com 575 North 9th Street, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 Don’t ruin your very bright future catch a cab, get a lift sleep over or just stay sober WHATEVER YOU DO…. DON’T DRINK & DRIVE Let us serve your driver education needs. We train all ages with a permit 2775 Row River Rd Cottage Grove 541-942-4415 bradschevy.com
