Health Risks

Teens who drink are also more likely to participate in other risky behaviors. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) published the "National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XIV" in August 2009. They state that compared with teens who have not had alcohol, teens who get drunk are "eighteen times likelier to have tried marijuana" and "twice as likely to know a girl who was forced to do something sexual she didn't want to do; and nearly four times likelier to know a guy who used drugs or alcohol to hook up."
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Alcohol and Teen Health

Alcohol and Teen Health
Alcohol contributes to liver disease and may increase the risk of some cancers. Even taken in small quantities, it can affect brain development, and, in large quantities, can cause permanent brain damage. According to NIAAA, "Adolescents also are vulnerable to alcohol-induced brain damage, which could contribute to poor performance at school or work. In addition, youthful drinking is associated with an increased likelihood of developing alcohol abuse or dependence later in life." NIAAA also cites that underage alcohol use is more likely to kill young people than all illegal drugs combined, due to drinking and driving. It also increases suicide risk, sexual assault, and high-risk sex.
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Teens and Impaired Driving

Teens and Impaired Driving
Statistics consistently show that even though it is illegal for teens to drink alcohol, they account for a large number of drunk-driving accidents. The National Highway Transportation Services Administration (NHTSA) released a 2009 report estimating 11,773 people died in car crashes that were attributable to drunk driving in 2008, accounting for more than 31 percent of all traffic fatalities in that year. An earlier NHTSA report found that in 2008 "2 percent of the fifteen- to twenty-year-old drivers involved in property-damage-only crashes had been drinking, 4 percent of those involved in crashes resulting in injury had been drinking, and 22 percent of those involved in fatal crashes had been drinking." The study also points out that teenage drivers are less likely to use seatbelts if they have been drinking and "63 percent of the young drivers of passenger vehicles involved in fatal crashes who had been drinking were unrestrained," and, of those who had been drinking before they were killed in crashes, "73 percent were unrestrained."
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Drinking Age Debate Video

http://video.foxnews.com/v/3937419/drinking-age-debate

Binge Drinking

Binge Drinking
The definition of binge drinking varies by country, but in the United States it means more than five drinks by a male, or four by a female, at a single occasion. Despite the increase in drinking-related deaths, teenagers still engage in binge drinking. In the 2003 report, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) stated that 30 percent of students in the twelfth grade admit to binge drinking in the past thirty days. Additionally, 1,825 student drinking-related deaths occurred in 2005, up from 1,440 in 1998.
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