Consequneces of Underage Drinking

Youth who drink alcohol are more likely to experience...

• School problems, such as higher absence and poor or failing grades.
• Social problems, such as fighting and lack of participation in youth activities.
• Legal problems, such as arrest for driving or physically hurting someone while drunk.
• Physical problems, such as hangovers or illness.
• Disruption of normal growth
• Higher risk for suicide and homicide.
• Alcohol-related car crashes and other unintentional injuries, such as burns, falls and drowning.
• Memory problems.
• Abuse of other drugs.
• Changes in brain development that may have life-long effects.
• Death from alcohol poisoning.
• Underage drinking is a leading contributor to death from injuries, which are the main cause of death for people under age 21.
• Annually, about 5,000 people under age 21 die from alcohol-related injuries involving underage drinking.
• About 1,900 (38%) of the 5,000 deaths involve motor vehicle crashes, about 1,600 932%) result from homicides, and about 300 (6%) are caused by suicides.

In general, the risk of youth experiencing these problems is greater for those who binge drink than for those who do not binge drink.
youth who start drinking before age 15 years are 5 times more likely to develop alcohol dependence or abuse later in life than those who begin drinking at or after age 21.