CARE Resources
The following are articles pertaining to responsible drinking. For additional resources, feel free to visit our links page.
April is Alcohol Awareness Month nationwide. The designation started in 1987 with a primary focus on underage drinking and the devastating effects it can have on youth.
Lowering the Drinking Age and Car Crashes
A study in New Zealand indicates strongly that lowering the drinking age increased serious-injury and fatal car crashes among youths.
Dr. Robert Voas at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation found a dramatic increase in traffic crashes and injuries involving teenaged drivers during the four years after the New Zealand legislature lowered the drinking age to 18, compared to the four years before the law changed.
The startling percentages of increased accidents and injuries:
Males: 12 percent for ages 18-19, and 14 percent among ages 15-17;
Females: 51 percent for ages 18-19, and 24 percent for ages 15-17.
The study estimated that raising the minimum legal drinking age would prevent about 400 serious injuries and 12 deaths each year among 15-19 year-olds. In the United States, five states have legislation pending to lower their minimum legal drinking age. Full content of the New Zealand study is published in the January 2006 edition of the American Journal of Public Health.
Did you know?
Under Texas DWI law, you can get a citation for not having normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of these substances or any other substance into the body.
This means that if a person does not have enough alcohol in his/her bloodstream to register 0.08% BAC, but he/she has alcohol or some drug or controlled substance in his/her bloodstream, then such person can be convicted of DWI if his/her normal abilities are impaired.
Drinking Games and Sexual Assaults
According to a recent study from Indiana State University, 44%of males who reported engaging in drinking games do so to improve their chances of sexual activity with other players. The study's authors, Johnson and Sheets, report that men "sexually manipulate" other players by using drinking games, which encourage drinking large amounts of alcohol quickly. Thirty percent of males report they play drinking games in an effort to try to get their opponent drunk enough to engage in sexual activity, and 20% report committing a sexual assault after playing a drinking game. The study, titled "Measuring College Students' Motives for Playing Drinking Games," can be found in the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors (2004, Vol. 18, pp. 91-99).
Young Females and "Alcopop" Ads
An American Medical Association report on nationwide polls illustrates a larger exposure of underage females to the ever-popular genre of drinks known as "alcopops." According to the polls cited in the report, one-third of teenage females report having tried alcopops, and more females than males have had these drinks in the past six months (31%vs. 19%). Women aged 21 and older rank alcopops as their least consumed form of alcohol. The polls also connected the imbibing of alcopops with sexual activity, drunk driving or riding with a drinking driver, and secondary effects (vomiting and passing out). Underage females reported seeing and hearing more advertising for alcopops than adult women: 51%t of teenage girls had seen alcopop ads, and nearly 50% saw the ads on TV; only 34%of women aged 21 and older had seen such ads on TV. For more information on this nationwide report, please visit the AMA.
Alcohol Marketing Overexposes Hispanic Youth
Hispanic youth often saw and heard more alcohol advertising per capita during 2003 and 2004 than young people in their age group in general, according to a new release from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY). The report found that 12 to 20 year old Hispanics saw 20% more alcohol advertising per capita in English-language magazines in 2004 than did all young people in this age group. To read the report, go to www.camy.org.
Audio-Teleconferences
Geographic Information Systems (GIS): The Effective Use of Mapping December 15, 2005 3:00-4:15pm Eastern Standard Time The Geographic Information System (GIS) is a tool that can assist communities and enforcement agencies in identifying problems related to alcohol availability. The audio-teleconference will share the strengths of GIS, describe when and how to apply GIS to show change over time, and discuss how the results of GIS mapping can be used in strategic planning and in the support of existing environmental strategies
Three new topics have been added to the audio-teleconference series. In January, presenters for "Underage Drinking in College: Dry vs. Wet Campuses" will focus on underage drinking on university campuses. "How to Effectively Defend the Minimum Legal Drinking Age" will be the title and focus of February's session. In March, "A Global Look at Youth Drinking" will discuss youth drinking in other countries. Take advantage of this opportunity to "attend" these audio-teleconferences in the comfort of your own office or home. To register for these and other audio-teleconference, visit www.udetc.org/registration.asp
The Safe Community project of Brazos Valley supports: http://txtownsafety.tamu.edu/SC_Links.asp#ten