Many Underage Drinkers Get
Alcohol
from Adults
More than 40 percent of the Nation’s
estimated 10.8 million underage current
drinkers (persons ages 12 to 20 who
drank in the past 30 days) were provided
free alcohol by adults 21 or older,
according to a
SAMHSA report, Underage Alcohol
Use: Findings from the 2002-2006
National Surveys on Drug Use and
Health.
 The study also indicates that 1 in
16 underage drinkers (6.4 percent or 650,000) was given alcoholic beverages
by their parents in the past month.
The report is based on a nationwide
study, which for the first time asked
detailed questions about the social
context and location of underage drinking—a
problem responsible for the deaths
of more than 5,000 people under age
21 every year. The survey also asked
current drinkers ages 12 to 20 the
source of the alcohol they last consumed,
how many drinks they had on that occasion,
and what other drugs, if any, they
used in combination with alcohol in
the past month.
The findings from this study are being
incorporated into the Underage Drinking
Prevention campaign, an ongoing public
outreach effort by the Office of the
Surgeon General, SAMHSA, and the Ad
Council, encouraging parents to speak
with their children early and often
about the negative effects of underage
drinking.
The campaign provides parents with
valuable information about the problem
of underage drinking as well as tips
for how to talk to their children about
it. Further information about the campaign
can be obtained at www.stopalcoholabuse.gov.
This report is based on combined
data from the 2002 to 2006 National
Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).
The full report is available on the
SAMHSA Web site at http://oas.samhsa.gov/underage2k8/toc.htm. 
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