Don’t Wait to Talk to Your Teen About Alcohol
Underage drinking is a growing problem in Oregon, with the rate among eighth-grade girls growing by a third over a recent four-year period. Underage drinking can lead to traffic fatalities, school failure, sexually transmitted disease, adolescent pregnancy, youth suicide and other negative consequences. In Oregon and nationally, research shows that parents who deliver clear, consistent messages have more influence on teens than most people think.
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Overview
In 2001, underage drinking cost Oregonians $697 million dollars in medical costs, lost productivity, pain and suffering and other costs, according the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. That translates to a cost of $2,074 per year for each youth in the state.
Oregon’s Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) program is designed to address local, county and statewide needs for preventing underage drinking through a multi-faceted approach. Through local and county prevention projects, statewide media messages on the issues of underage drinking laws and laws related to furnishing alcohol to minors and other partnerships, Oregon’s EUDL program is making a difference.
Contact information and job description
Jeff Ruscoe, State Coordinator
Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Program
500 Summer Street NE, E-86
Salem, OR 97301-1118
(503) 945-5901 – Phone
(503) 947-5043 – Fax
jeff.ruscoe@state.or.us
The Office of Mental Health and Addiction Services coordinates underage drinking prevention programs for the State of Oregon. This includes annual Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) block grant activities, as well as discretionary funding for underage drinking prevention.
2006 Alcohol Awareness Month Proclamation (PDF)
What's new
Revised Underage Drinking Fact Sheet (PDF)
Call to action
Taking action (PDF)
Quick facts on teenage drinking
- Of the teens who drink, most start before age 15.
- From 2001 to 2005, 8th-grade alcohol use among girls increased 8.2%.
- Eighth-grade girls are almost twice as likely to get alcohol from friends as 8th grade boys.
- The use of alcohol among 11th graders in general is more than 20% higher than the use of alcohol shown by 8th graders
- Almost 45 percent of Oregon’s 11th graders drank alcohol during the past month.
- More than one in three of Oregon's 8th graders had a drink during the last 30 days.
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Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Recent and Currently Funded Projects
See a list of recent and currently funded projects for 2005-06 (PDF)
EUDL Rural Communities Initiative
In 2005, Oregon was chosen as one of three states to receive additional funding to address underage drinking in rural communities. This project will focus on three rural communities (Wallowa and Lake Counties, and the City of Newport) to address underage drinking utilizing best practice strategies.
U of O and OSU Underage Drinking and Sports Collaboration
DHS teams up with schools to fight underage drinking (PDF)
Resources
Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) Fact Sheets
Fact Booklet on State Alcohol Taxes (PDF)
Fact Sheet on State Beer Taxes (PDF)
Reach Out Now – National Teaching Institute
Reducing Underage Drinking – A Collective Responsibility
Risk and Protective Factor approach (PDF)
Underage Drinking Fact Sheet (PDF)
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Presentations
Family Influence on Reducing Underage Drinking (Powerpoint)
Citations (PDF)
Web Site Resources
Alcohol and Development in Youth – A Multidisciplinary Overview
This resource covers a broad scope of issues. It is rather technical in nature and includes information on the following: the Scope of the Problem; Developmental Issues in Underage Drinking Research; the Effects of Alcohol on Physiological Processes and Biological Development; Genetics, Pharmacokinetics, and Neurobiology of Adolescent Alcohol Use; Psychosocial Processes and Mechanisms of Risk and Protection; Environmental and Contextual Considerations; and Interventions for Alcohol Use and Alcohol Use Disorders in Youth.
Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center
On this site you can find out about services to assist states and local communities in their efforts to combat underage drinking and related problems though enforcement of alcohol laws.
StopAlcoholAbuse.Gov
StopAlcoholAbuse.Gov is a comprehensive portal of federal resources for information on underage drinking and ideas for combating this issue. People interested in underage drinking prevention—including parents, educators, community-based organizations, and youth—will find a wealth of valuable information here. Start Talking Before They Start Drinking!
FACE
The FACE (Facing Alcohol Concerns through Education) Web site describes the organization's focus on media development, training and advocacy. Links to the product catalog and order form provide access to videos, commercials, outdoor advertising, and print materials that address the health and safety risks associated with alcohol. These media, and FACE training sessions as well, may be of particular interest to those working in the area of community norms.
Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY)
The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth monitors the marketing practices of the alcohol industry to focus attention and action on industry practices that jeopardize the health and safety of America's youth.
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Pacific Institute of Research and Evaluation (PIRE)
Pacific Institute has significant national presence in the area of alcohol prevention research, with funded research projects at the Prevention Research Center (Berkeley, CA) and Public Services Research Institute (Calverton, MD), among others. Research in this area has been extensive and produced a number of scientific publications and books in the area of alcohol prevention that have been instrumental in establishing a scientific basis for environmentally focused prevention research. Underage drinking and young adult drinking research and prevention is one of the strongest portfolios for Pacific Institute. Considerable research and technical assistance are already under way in areas such as teenage access to alcohol, college student drinking, drinking by young people in public establishments and across the US-Mexican border, and drinking by enlisted persons in the military.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Program: Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws
The Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Program supports and enhances efforts by states and local jurisdictions to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors and the purchase and consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors.
Oregon Healthy Teens Survey
Oregon Healthy Teens (OHT) is Oregon's effort to monitor the health and well-being of adolescents. An anonymous and voluntary research-based survey, OHT is conducted among 8th and 11th graders statewide. The OHT survey incorporates two youth surveys that preceded it, the YRBS and the Student Drug Use Survey.
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Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free
Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free, a unique coalition of governors' spouses, federal agencies, and public and private organizations, is an initiative to prevent the use of alcohol by children ages 9 to 15. It is the only national effort that focuses on alcohol use in this age group. The initiative was founded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and it has been joined by additional federal sponsors.
Parents Who Host, Lose the Most
The "Parents Who Host, Lose the Most: Don't be a party to teenage drinking" public awareness campaign was developed by Drug-Free Action Alliance in 2000 to educate parents about the health and safety risks of serving alcohol at teen parties and to increase awareness of and compliance with the Ohio underage drinking laws.
Oregon Youth Line
1-877-553-TEEN. Oregon Partnership's Alcohol and Drug HelpLine is a free, confidential referral service that provides information about substance abuse and refers clients to professional treatment providers. Family, friends, people seeking treatment, and professionals seeking resources for their clients typically use the help line.
Reach Out Now
Reach Out Now is a collaboration by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Scholastic Inc. to provide school-based, underage alcohol use prevention materials in time for Alcohol Awareness Month each April. Reach Out Now Teach-Ins are an opportunity for prominent national, youth, state, and local leaders using a research-based curriculum and other resources to teach fifth and sixth graders, parents, teachers, and the community about the dangers of underage alcohol use and encourage young people to make healthy decisions.
The Cool Spot
Focused on middle-school aged students, this site provides information on alcohol, peer pressure, the right to resist, and “Real Life.” It is colorful, age-appropriate, and a good place for youth to get information.
Too Smart to Start
An underage alcohol use prevention initiative for parents, caregivers, and their 9-to-13-year-old children. Sections are broken out for youth, parents, communities, and partners (other organizations and sites addressing the underage drinking issue).
College Drinking – Changing the Culture
This is a one-stop resource for comprehensive research-based information on issues related to alcohol abuse and binge drinking among college students. It is broken into sections on stats and summaries, NIAAA college materials, supporting research, and other alcohol information. There is information in this site for college students, college parents, faculty, high school administrators, and high school students and their parents.
Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention
This is the U.S. Department of Education’s Web site providing publications, information and assistance, training, and evaluation on alcohol and other drug abuse and violence prevention.
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