"Alcohol a bigger threat to U.S. Youth than Drugs"

[nonemoreblack]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20060629/hl_hsn/alcoholabiggerthreattousyouththandrugs

Title pretty much sums it up, but here are some interesting quotes:


Alcohol abuse by minors results in almost 3,200 deaths a year -- four times more than deaths due to all illegal drug use combined, a new study finds.

Underage drinking also costs the United States $62 billion each year, the researchers found.

Despite these numbers, policymakers remain focused on the impact and prevention of drug use in minors, rather than alcohol, the study's authors said. The budget for anti-drug use by America's youth is nearly 25 times that of public funds earmarked for the prevention of alcohol use.


Miller's team at the PIRE Public Services Research Institute in Calverton, Md., found that a large number of minors are drinking great quantities of alcohol. In fact, the study showed that underage youth consume at least 16 percent of all alcohol sold in the United States, a number the researchers called conservative.


Miller said poor legal enforcement is a major factor in the underage drinking epidemic, and that stricter regulations and inspections of institutions where alcohol is sold would cut the amount of alcohol getting into minors' hands.

Thoughts?

[rastavibes]

I do agree to this, because the statistics don't lie. Alcohol kills way more people than marijuana yearly.

[coming.undone]

Doesn't supprise me what so ever, I was drinking way before I ever sparked a bowl.
(that's going to sound irrelivant, so, fyi I'm 15)

[KXT]

Fuck yeah, Alcohol is terrible stuff.

[BCXdro]

Fuck yeah, Alcohol is terrible stuff.
Yeah, but doesn't stop me from getting SHITFACED.
But this is very very true, good argumental facts.

[PotLover]

I remember before when I didn't smoke I was drinking alcohol like nothing but now that I smoke so much that alcohol taste like shit.

[DyceFreak]

I remember before when I didn't smoke I was drinking alcohol like nothing but now that I smoke so much that alcohol taste like shit.
I completely agree :P
You should have seen my friends reactions when im like, im not drinking.

[KXT]

Yeah, but doesn't stop me from getting SHITFACED.
But this is very very true, good argumental facts.

I'm with you, Yeah I suppose i am a hypocrit, but seriously,
Alcohol Causes waaaay more damage than Drugs will,
People get violent, stupid, Irresponsible, Slutty.
This leads to Physical abuse (house wifes, fights in the street ect)
Stupidity: falling over, Passing out and being robbed ( ;) )
Irresponsibility; Drunk driving (cause how many HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of deaths a year world wide)
lets not forget rape, spread of STI's ect ect.

now how bad does Weed look?

[Dosed]

I totally agree with this. The problem here is very similar to the perscription medication abuse problem that many people try to justify. Just because it is legal for adults over the age of 21 to drink doesn't necessarily make alcohol any safer or smarter to use than an illegal drug. It's not the substance that matters; it's the individual's ability to be responsible with the substance they are using, and therein lies the problem with alot of today's youth. Of course I'm only 18 so I can't exactly plead 'not guilty'.

[UMphreak]

Alcohol, in my opinion, is the biggest drug problem there ever was. Think of all the people that killed in a drunk driving accident, DAILY-


Alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes kill someone every 31 minutes and nonfatally injure someone every two minutes (NHTSA 2005).

I drink here and there, but I really try not to get into alcohol. Personally, I don't like being drunk as much as I do being stoned. I'm not being a hypocrite by being against it, because I'm only against its legal stature and what the government doesnt do to prevent the millions of lives and billions of dollars lost by the US each year.


Each year, alcohol-related crashes in the United States cost about $51 billion (Blincoe et al. 2002)

I like alcohol and everything, but it's used too irresponsibly. There are people out there using ILLEGAL drugs responsibly! People smoke pot all of their lives and party and experience what they want to, without ever being irresponsible, and grow up to retire without ever having trouble with the law! Alcohol needs to be more controlled in my opinion, at least in terms of keeping people off the roads and harm reduction.

[Dosed]

I know what you mean. What pisses me off is that if you're like me and you live in an uber-conservative state like TX, the concept of responsible drug use is totally blasphemous. It doesn't matter if you only smoke pot once a week and you still have control of your life; you're still thought of as a fucked up drug addict who is in denial of abuse.