National Academy of Sciences & Institute of Medicine Report: Reducing Underage Drinking - A Collective Responsibility

On September 9, 2003, the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine released Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility, a report that offers a comprehensive strategy to curb underage drinking. The report exposes the largely invisible public health epidemic of underage drinking, analyzes the most recent data on this problem, and addresses the best strategies for preventing youth from using and abusing alcohol.

More young people drink alcohol than use other drugs or smoke tobacco, and underage drinking costs the nation an estimated $53 billion annually in losses stemming from traffic fatalities, violent crime, and other behaviors that threaten the well-being of America's youth. To tackle the problem, the report offers a comprehensive, national plan that requires a shared commitment from many institutions and individuals, including alcohol manufacturers and retail businesses, the entertainment industry, and parents and other adults in local communities.

Key findings from the report include:

• Patterns and consequences of underage drinking are closely related to the overall extent and patterns of drinking in society and are affected by the same factors that affect adult consumption.
• Underage drinking cannot be successfully addressed by focusing on youth alone. Efforts to reduce and prevent underage drinking need to focus on parents and other adults and include strategies that engage the society at large.
• Alcoholic beverages are far cheaper today than they were in the 1960s and 1970s.

Key recommendations from the report include:

• Multiple components must be implemented that include science-based programs, research, and evaluation.
• Congress and state legislators should raise alcohol taxes. Top priority should be given to raising beer taxes, and excise taxes on all alcoholic beverages should be indexed to the consumer price index to keep pace with inflation.
• Public and private funders should support community mobilization to reduce underage drinking. Community leaders should assess their local underage drinking problem and consider effective approaches such as community organizing, coalition building, and strategic use of mass media.
• States and communities should implement a system requiring registration of beer kegs that records information on purchaser’s identity.
• Residential colleges and universities should adopt comprehensive prevention approaches including environmental changes that limit underage access to alcohol.
• Local police, working with community leaders should adopt and announce policies for deterring and terminating underage drinking parties.
• States and localities should implement enforcement programs to deter adults from purchasing alcohol for minors.

College Drinking and Communities

The extensive report includes a chapter on the importance of community mobilization in fighting underage drinking, with a section devoted to collaborations between communities and colleges (pages 228-232). If your time to devote to reading this report is limited, be sure to read this chapter.

Recognizing that college students can benefit from a healthy campus and community environment, the chapter is consistent with the Higher Education Center’s comprehensive environmental approach to alcohol prevention, and cites the Center’s statewide initiative efforts. In addition, the achievements of several colleges involved in the A Matter of Degree program are provided as examples of how college-community coalitions have been successful. The chapter also includes information about other successful community coalitions and provides the evidence of effectiveness, including examples of what works and ingredients of success.

Visit the Institute of Medicine for the full report or to read the press release announcing its findings.

The executive summary of the report has been reprinted in a visually attractive format for use by groups and organizations to disseminate. The reprint booklet was illustrated and produced by FACE – Truth and Clarity on Alcohol and can be ordered at their Web site.