DRINKING ALCOHOL,
​WHAT’S SAFE?

When it comes to alcohol and underage drinking, it’s zero tolerance.When youth try alcohol, they often don’t realize the damaging effects drinking can have on their own lives, their families and their community. Aside from being illegal, underage drinking can hinder brain development, cause serious injury and even death. 

Underage Drinking
  • Can cause death. (The CDC says 4,358 people under age 21 die each year from alcohol-related car crashes, homicides, suicides, alcohol poisoning, and other injuries such as falls, burns, and drowning)
  • Can lead to accidental injury
  • Can impair judgment
  • Can increase risk of physical or sexual assault

UNDERAGE DRINKING IS DANGEROUS

In 2022, we completed our most recent Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth Survey from 7th, 9th and 11th grade students in Eaton County and asked them about their substance use. Results show 1% of 7th graders, 8% of 9th graders, and 16% of 11th graders reported they had consumed alcohol in the past 30 days. Even though past 30 day-use is on a downward trend since 2020 among 7th, 9th, and 11th graders, we are still concerned about the harms of alcohol in minors. The average age of first alcohol use among Eaton County Middle and High schoolers has been decreasing since 2016. From 2016 to 2018, the average age has decreased from 13.4 to 12.8 years among high schoolers and from 10.3 to 8.8 years old among middle schoolers. Adolescent misuse of drugs and alcohol is a preventable behavior, and the earlier we intervene, the better for our youth. Our goal is to provide our local students with evidence-based prevention programs to reduce use and to empower parents to have the needed conversations with their children about the effects of alcohol.

“DO YOUR PART”
At Eaton County Substance Abuse Awareness Coalition, we are excited to be “doing our part” with alcohol prevention. We have a strategic prevention action plan that includes:

  • Facilitating vendor education to alcohol vendors in Eaton County
  • Running the CHOICES early intervention program for teens who have experimented with substances and their parents
  • Implementing and evaluating Peer Assistance and Leadership (PAL) training to prevent alcohol abuse and other high risk behaviors in schools
  • Expanding PALS participation to greater numbers of schools and students
  • Implementing student resiliency-refusal skills for ATOD
  • Promoting and implementing TIPS trainings for both “on premise” and temporary alcohol vendors
  • Implementing social norm campaigns “Most Teens Don’t”

Alcohol and the Effects of Underage Drinking on the Teen Brain

​Dr. Stephen Guertin, MD, Medical Director, Sparrow Children's Center, Lansing, Michigan provides his perspective on underage drinking and its affects on the developing brain.

The Costs of Binge Drinking

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings a person's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 grams percent or above. This typically happens when men consume 5 or more drinks, and when women consume 4 or more drinks, in about 2 hours.

How much is a drink?
In the United States, a standard drink is one that contains about 14 grams of pure alcohol, which is found in:
  • 12 ounces of beer with about 5 percent alcohol content 
  • 5 ounces of wine with about 12 percent alcohol content 
  • 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits with about 40 percent alcohol content
The percent of “pure” alcohol, expressed here as alcohol by volume (alc/vol), varies within and across beverage types. Although the “standard” drink amounts are helpful for following health guidelines, they may not reflect customary serving sizes. A large cup of beer, an overpoured glass of wine, or a single mixed drink could contain much more alcohol than a standard drink.

Talking about Expectations Around Alcohol Matters

Learn more about the prevalence of alcohol use in Eaton County by clicking on our Data in Action Sheet below for 2022.

alcohol_use_dia_2022.pdf
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