Underage Drinking

Overview

In Hawai`i, as in the rest of the nation, alcohol is the most widely used substance of abuse among our young people.  In 2007, close to 59% of Hawai`i high school students had consumed alcohol at least once in their life, with 29% of them having done so in the past 30 days.  15% engaged in binge drinking (five or more drinks of alcohol in a row) in the past 30 days.  Moreover, approximately 21% of students had their first drink before age 13.  In 2004, 463 youth age 12 -20 years old were admitted for alcohol treatment in Hawai`i, accounting for 29% of all treatment admissions for alcohol abuse in the State.  The economic costs to the state are significant as it is estimated that underage drinking costs the citizens of Hawai`i approximately $215 million a year.

Access to alcohol is a substantial factor in underage alcohol use among Hawai`i students.  Hawai`i youth report it is “very easy” or “fairly easy” to get alcohol, and the percentages increase with age: 6th grade – 19.5%; 8th grade – 47.4%; 10th grade – 72.3%; and 12th grade – 81.7%.   In 2007, nearly half (47%) of bars and restaurants in Hawai`i served alcohol to persons under 21, an increase from 35% in 2006 (Read more). Among retail establishments statewide, 17.6% sold alcohol to underage individuals.  

According to the Surgeon General of the United States, underage drinking is a leading contributor to death from injuries, the main case of death for people under 21.  In fact, nationally, about 5000 people under 21 die from alcohol-related injuries involving underage drinking. Underage drinking also plays a significant role in risky sexual behavior among youth, including unwanted, unintended, and unprotected sexual activity and sex with multiple partners.  It increases the risk of physical and sexual assault, including date rape, and is also associated with academic failure, illicit drug use, and tobacco use. 

New research is showing that underage drinking can cause alterations in the structure and function of the developing brain, which continues to mature in the mid- to late twenties, and thus may have consequences reaching far beyond adolescence.  Finally, underage drinking is a significant risk factor for heavy drinking later in life with studies showing that young people that begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence and are two and a half times more likely to become abusers of alcohol than those who begin drinking at age 21. 

Click here to read the parent's guide on underage drinking.

U.S. Surgeon General's Call to Action

In 2007, Hawai`i became the first state in the nation to answer the U.S. Surgeon General's national Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking.  The Call to Action declared “[u]nderage alcohol consumption in the United States [] a widespread and persistent public health and safety problem that creates serious personal, social, and economic consequences for adolescents, their families, communities and the National as a whole.”  The Surgeon General exhorted the nation to “engage all levels of government as well as individuals and private sector organizations in a coordinated, multifaceted effort to prevent and reduce underage drinking and its adverse consequences.” 

Heeding the Surgeon General’s Call to Action, the State of Hawai`i, in partnership with the county governments, has embarked on an aggressive underage drinking reduction and prevention campaign through an $11 million federal Strategic Prevention Framework – State Incentive Grant that will focus resources on developing community capacity to change social norms and attitudes surrounding underage drinking in Hawai`i. Also instrumental in leading the effort in Hawai`i is the Hawai`i Partnership to Prevent Underage Drinking (HPPUD) whose membership includes county, state, and federal agencies, non-profit organizations, private businesses, and community residents concerned with the health of Hawai`i’s youth.


Hawai`i Underage Drinking Laws

Hawai`i has enacted strict laws and policies to address underage drinking.

Resource Links

Stop Underage Drinking Portal of Federal Resources


Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free


Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center


Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, Office of Applied Studies, Underage Drinking 


Mothers Against Drunk Driving


Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth


Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


The Cool Spot – NIAAA Website for Middle Schoolers