Many of the nation's estimated 10.8 million underage drinkers are turning to their parents or other adults for free alcohol.
A government survey of teens from 2002 to 2006 said slightly more than half had engaged in underage drinking.
Asked about the source of alcohol, 40 percent they got it from an adult for free over the past month, the survey said. Of those, about one in four said they got it from an unrelated adult, one in 16 got it from a parent or guardian and one in 12 got it from another adult family member. Roughly 4 percent reported taking the alcohol from their own home.
The nationwide study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, being released Thursday, tracks the social contexts involved in underage drinking, a problem leading to thousands of alcohol-related traffic deaths and injuries each year.
About one out of five of those aged 12 to 20 — or roughly 7.2 million people — said they had taken part in binge drinking, defined as consuming five or more drinks on at least one occasion in the past month, the survey said. Rates were significantly higher if they lived with a parent who engaged in binge drinking.
The study, which uses data from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, is based on a scientific random sample of 158,000 people aged 12 to 20 in the United States.
Source: Associated Press
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iqcz4qefFuB-WzZl_dobVvodK-zwD91HHARO0
It interesting to me to see the number of articles being published on this study that imply surprise by the notion that adults provide teens with alcohol. Where else are teens going to get alcohol?! At least going as far back as to when this generation of parents were teens, kids have typically relied on adults for acquiring alcohol. It certainly isn't typical that a teen is going to walk into a store and purchase it. If there is anything surprising to me in this study it's that so many teens are getting their alcohol free. A cost factor is involved, so it's costing someone! I honestly don't understand that part. I would have also thought that the percentage of teens taking alcohol from their own home (4%) would have been greater. What are your thoughts?
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