Stress that underage drinking is illegal, experts say
BY PAUL COLLINS
THI. C HKONK I I
According to a national survey of
more than 40,000 students. 21.5 per
cent of eighth-graders. 39 percent of
lOth-graders and 49.8 percent of 12th
graders said they had consumed alco
hol in the last 30 days, said Bert
Wood, president and CEO of Step
One Substanc? Abuse Services in
Winston-Salem. And 16 percent of
eighth-graders. 39 percent of I Oth
graders and 52 percent of 12th
graders said they had consumed at
least five drinks in one setting in the
last year.
The average age when a child first
tries alcohol is 12. Wood said.
Parents need to help their children
make responsible choices, he said.
"Clearly, when you talk about making
responsible choices, alcohol is the
most accessible and acceptable of all
drugs; yet. unfortunately, it is our
number one drug problem."
, ? 1?, Wood said
that parents
should stress to
their children
that it's illegal
to drink alcohol
under the age of
21 in North Car
olina. But ? if
their children
are drinking
anyway, parents
should emnha
size not drinking and driving.
Wood said that young people who
use alcohol before the age of 15 are
four times more likely to become
alcoholics, so if they postpone their
use of alcohol sev eral years, they are
less likely to have alcohol abuse
problems.
Susan Rook, public affairs direc
tor for Step One. said she is a recov
ered alcoholic and recovered drug
addict. She said. "I think when par
ents assume that luds will drink, that
it's a rite of passage and an accepted
behavior for teens to drink, (that)
adults are giving up their responsibil
ity of taking care ^"Children. It's ille
gal for anyone under the age of 21 to
;} drink."
Some parents look the other way
and let young people get away with
drinking. Rook said And some par
ents buy beer for children and say,
"I'd rather you drink at home, where
I'll know you'll be safe." she said.
She equates that to a parent handing
his child a loaded gun with one bul
let and saying, "Russian roulette is a
rite of passage; go do it."
Rook said. "If you are genetically
predisposed to alcoholism, and you
drink as a teen-ager, your brain
begins to change, adapt and expect
alcohol. There's no such thing as
drinking responsibly as a teen-ager. Il
does not exist. The brain does not
stop changing until the early 2<)s.
I I1UI S Wll) U1C
drinking age is
21. Someone
who is drinking
al 15. 40 percent
of those 15
year-olds will
become alcohol
dependent at
some point in
their lives."
Rook said
that by the age
ot I x she was urinking regularly, by
35. I had overdosed and ended up in
the emergency room with a blood
alcohol content of .3: .08 is the legal
limit."
Rook continued: "Parents want to
be good parents and they just don't
realize that giv ing their children alco
hol or giv ing a wink and a nod if they
know their kids have gotten drunk at
some party, is really dangerous. I'm
just talking about alcohol: I'm not
talking about alcoltol as a gateway to
other drugs.0
"A kid who is drinking regularly
at 13. 14 or 15, something like three
quarters of them will try cocaine
before they are 18." Rook said, stress
ing that drinking at an early age
increases the chance that a child "w ill
try something else."
Rook said that "the stakes are
higher these days" than when she was
growing up. "I'm 41. The stuff I
smoked when I was a teen-ager is 400
times more powerful than what I
smoked 30 years ago. Parents just
don't realize."
She said that every year 1.600
kids in the United States die in alco
hol-related car accidents. That does
n't include nonfatal injuries.
Rook said 70 percent of all teen
age pregnancies "occur when the kid
is drunk or high.'" In a survey of high
school students. 38 percent of high
school boys said it is OK to rape a girl
if she is passed out and 18 percent of
girls said it is OK to rape a girl who is
passed out. Rook said. So unwanted
pregnancies, sexually transmitted dis
eases and even rape can result from
drinking. Rook said.
But what if a child tells a parent,
"You drink alcohol, so why can't I?"
Rook said the child is probably trying
to make the parent feel guilty. Parents
could say something like. "I can
legally drink. I'm over the age of 21.
I can drink responsibly. It's illegal for
you to drink because you're under the
age of 21, and 1 can't condone you
doing something illegal. The neurobi
ology of this is. if you drink while
your brain is being formed, you have
a good chance of becoming an alco
holic."
Talking With Kids About Tough
Issues - a national campaign by Chil
dren Now and the Kaiser Family
Foundation - gives these tips about
talking to young children about
drugs.
? Listen carefully - Student sur
veys show that when parents listen to
their children's feelings and concerns,
their children feel comfortable talk
ing with them and are more likely to
stay drug-free.
? Role-play ways in which your
child can refuse to go along with his
friends without becoming a social
outcast.
? Encourage
choice. Allow
your child plenty
of opportunity to
become a confi
dent decision
maker. As your
child becomes
more skilled at
making all kinds
of good choices,
both you and she
will feel more
secure in her abil
ity to make the
right decision
concerning alcohol if and when' the
time arrives. '
? Provide age-appropriaW ?Wfor
mation.
? Be a good example. Try not to
reach for a beer the minute yO* come
home after a tough day; it sdhdjpthe
message that drinking is the UfMway
to unwind. Offer dinner gueS^idh
alcoholic drinks in addition id *ine
and spirits.
? Discuss what makes a good
friend. Peer pressure is important in
children's involvement with alcohol.
? Build self-esteem. Children who
feel good about themselves are much
less likely than other kids to turn to
illegal substances to get high. Here
are some ways parents can build their
children's self-esteem: Offer lots of
praise for any job well done. If you
need to criticize your child, talk about
the action, not the person. Assign do
able chores. Performing such duties
and being praised for them helps your
child feel good about himself. Spend
one-on-one time with your youngster
(at least 15 uninterrupted minutes per
child per day). Say. "I love you."
? Information and lessons about
drugs are important enough to repeat
frequently.
? If you suspect a problem, seek
help.
Rook
Wood
File Photo
Young people who drink alcohol before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become alcoholics, said Bert
Wood, president and CEO of Step One Substance Abuse Services in tijfitlston-Salem.
Pile Photo
State Rep. Pete Old
ham, who is leav
ing the General
Assembly after this
term, said the tax
v/ould help curb
drinking among
teens and young
people.
Beer
from page AI
age drinking alone costs the
state SI. 16 hillion in medical
care, work loss and other costs."
? "It's good for public health.
Studies are clear: When beer
prices increase, fewer teens die
or are injured in car crashes.
Family violence and sexually
transmitted diseases decrease."
Dean Plunkett. vice presi
dent of the N.C. Beer and W ine
Wholesalers Association, sees
the issue quite differently. From
a public health/safety perspec
tive. he said that before the fed
eral government doubled the
national beer excise tax in 1992.
there had been steady decreases
in the incidence of teen drink
ing. drunken driving, etc.. but
since then, there's been a level
ing off.
From an economic perspec
tive. he said North Carolina's
beer excise tax is already the
fifth highest in the nation, and
doubling it would hurt sales.
That would mean the beer
wholesalers would be be less
able to expand, would hire fewer
new drivers or might have to lay
off workers during these diffi
cult economic limes.
It also would lead to people
going across the state line to buy
beer, for example, when they
buy lottery tickets, he said.
An increase in the beer tax
would be passed on to the con
sumer. he said. "A tax like this is
very regressive It falls most
heavily on people least able to
pay for it."
"We're
the only
industry
that tells
people not
to buy
their prod
uct. I can't
think of
another
industry
that tells
people to
be resnon
sible," said Plunkett. who noted
that the industry spends millions
of dollars a year on its efforts to
promote responsible drinking
and reduce underage drinking.
Reduction of sales from an
increased state beer excise tax
would reduce the amount of
money beer wholesalers could
put back into the community, he
said.
Plunkett said he feels his
industry already pays its fair
share in state beer excise taxes -
about $87.3 million in 2001.
In addition to the state beer
excise tax. ^Jiich is $1.20 a
case, there is a federal excise
tax of $1.30 a case, making a
total of $2.30 a case in state and
federal excise taxes. On lop of
that is the sales tax.
N.C. Rep. Larry Womble
said Friday that he could not
officially comment because he
haen't seen H.B. 1606 yet.
"There is a rumor there will be
(proposals to increase taxes on I
beer, wine and cigarettes, what
they call sin taxes.'...We're in a
budget crunch as everybody
knows. We have to come up
w ith some kind of way to bal
ance the budget. I'm looking at
all kinds of alternatives. I'm
very wide open."
He said the General Assem
bly will be looking at proposals
to increase taxes, cut services,
close loop holes and approve a
state lottery.
N.C. Rep. Warren C. "Pete"
Oldham said the proposal to.
double the state beer excise tax
is "just one of the proposals pre
sented to try to raise some rev
enue. There is a feeling some
things are undertaxed - beer,
(hard) liquor and
cigarettes....My feeling is go
ahead and tax it... "
Oldham said he thinks
increasing the beer excise tax
would not only raise additional
state revenue, but would have
some health benefits, such as
reducing underage drinking and
alcohol-related accidents.
Bert Wood, the president and
CEO of Step One Substance
Abuse Services in Winston
Salem. said he has mixed feel
ings about the proposed beer
tax. He said that just increasing
the beer tax may not necessarily
help prevention efforts, because,
in the case of the lottery in some
states, the revenues generated
may be spent for other things
than originally intended. But
studies clearly show that
increasing taxes and the price of
beer helps decrease underage
alcohol use. he said.
J y l
Womble
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