NE Underage Drinking Facts
by Chuck Wergin
April 14, 2009
Underage Drinking in Nebraska
The FactsTragic health, social, and economic problems result
from the use of alcohol by youth. Underage drinking is a causal
factor in a host of serious problems, including homicide, suicide,
traumatic injury, drowning, burns, violent and property crime, high
risk sex, fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol poisoning, and need for
treatment for alcohol abuse and dependence.
Problems and Costs Associated with Underage Drinking in Nebraska
Underage drinking cost the citizens of Nebraska$ 435 million in
2001. These costs include medical care, work loss, and pain and
suffering associated with the multiple problems resulting
from the use of alcohol by youth.
1 This translates to a cost of $2,340 per year for each youth in
the State. Nebraska ranks 19th highest among the 50 states for the
cost per youth of underage drinking. Excluding pain and suffering
from these costs, the direct costs of underage drinking incurred
through medical care and loss of work cost Nebraska $149 million
each year. Costs of Underage Drinking by Problem, Nebraska 2001
Youth violence (homicide, suicide, aggravated assault) and traffic
crashes attributable to alcohol use by underage youth in Nebraska
represent the largest costs for the State. However, a host of other
problems contribute substantially to the overall cost. Among teen
mothers, fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
alone costs Nebraska $6.1 million. Young people who 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.
2 In 2002, 364 youth 12- 20 years old were admitted for alcohol treatment in Nebraska, accounting for 7.5% of all treatment admissions for alcohol abuse in the State.
3 Problem Total Costs (in millions)
Youth Violence $174.9
Youth Traffic Crashes $160.2
High-Risk Sex, Ages 14-20 $36.9
Youth Property Crime $20.6
Youth Injury $18.5
Poisonings and Psychoses $8.2
FAS Among Mothers Age 15-20 $6.1
Youth Alcohol Treatment $9.4
Total $434.8
Costs of Underage Drinking Nebraska 2001
Pain & Suffering Costs
$286M
Medical Costs Work Lost Costs
$33M
$116M
Total: $435 million
Underage Drinking in Nebraska
The Facts
Alcohol Consumption by Youth in Nebraska
Underage drinking is widespread in Nebraska. Approximately 99,000
underage youth in
Nebraska drink each year. In 2001, according to self-reports by
Nebraska students in grades 9-12:
4 83% had at least one drink of alcohol on one or more days
during their life.
27% had their first drink of alcohol, other than a few sips, before
age 13.
53% had at least one drink of alcohol on one or more occasion in
the past 30 days.
39% had five or more drinks of alcohol in a row (i.e., binge
drinking) in the past 30 days.
3% had at least one drink of alcohol on school property on one or
more of the past 30 days.
In 2001, underage drinkers consumed 25.7% of all alcohol sold in
Nebraska, totaling $156
million in sales. These sales provided profits of $76 million to
the alcohol industry.1
Federal Resources Available for Combating Underage Drinking in
Nebraska
Nebraska receives $360,000 for the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws
Program of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention, allocated specifically to address underage drinking.
Additional funds which could be used to address the problem in
Nebraska include:
$7.9 million through the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment
Block Grant
administered through Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration. $1.6
million of that total is set aside for prevention.
$1.8 million from the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities
State Grants program
of the U.S. Department of Education.
$0.2 million from the Community Service for Expelled and Suspended
Students initiative
of the U.S. Department of Education.
$0.5 from the Governors Discretionary Funding for Safe and
Drug-Free Schools.
Funds available for Nebraska to combat substance abuse $11
million
Total underage drinking sales $156 million
Total alcohol industry profits on underage drinking $76 million
Total underage drinking costs $435 million
Produced by: The International Institute for Alcohol Awareness
(IIAA), a Project of the Pacific Institute for
Research and Evaluation (PIRE). www.beawarenow.org.
1
Levy, D.T., Miller, T.R., & Cox, K.C. (2003). Underage
drinking: societal costs and seller profits. Working Paper.
Calverton, MD: PIRE.
2
Grant, B.F., & Dawson, D.A. (1997). Ago at onset of alcohol use
and its association with DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence:
Results from
the Nation Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Journal of
Substance Abuse 9: 103-110.
3
Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration. Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).
(2001).
Substance Abuse Treatment by Primary Substance of Abuse, According
to Sex, Age, Race, and Ethnicity. Available [On-line]:
http://wwwdasis.samsha.gov/teds00?TEDS_2k_index.htm.
4
Center for Disease Control (CDC). (2001). Youth Risk Behavior
Surveillance System (YRBSS). Available [On-line]:
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/yrbs/2001/youth01online/htm.
