http://www.newssun.com/news/0129-ct-underage-drinking

by Christopher Tuffley

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SEBRING -- Most Highlands County youth choose not to drink alcohol or use other illegal substances. Roughly two-thirds of adolescents make good choices, while one-third make self-destructive ones.Of that third, 19.4 percent binge drink, posing a danger to themselves and those around them. In other words, about one student in every six.

Debbie Lees, of Drug Free Highlands, wants people to take comfort in those numbers. While underage drinking is a serious problem, she hopes people will remember that the majority of teens are doing just fine.

Unfortunately, those teens who do drink cost the state millions of dollars.

Lees presented the members of the Children's Services Council with a summary of a report regarding those economic costs. The report was written by a team of scientists from the University of Miami's Health Economics Research Group, a part of the school's Sociology Research Center.

The report states that Florida's youth have higher rates of alcohol use than the national average. That problem is compounded because Florida attracts thousands of young people every spring break and to many sporting events.

The report states that the 2007 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey found alcohol to be the most prevalent substance used by Florida students -- 55.6 percent reported having tried alcohol at some point in their lives and 31.2 percent of students had used alcohol in the previous 30 days.

Among high seniors the numbers were higher, with 78 percent having tried alcohol at least once.

More troubling, almost 10 percent of sixth graders (typically 11-year-olds) said they had used alcohol within the month of the survey.

The report states that programs and policies that successfully target underage drinking "have the potential to generate significant savings to state (and local) government, taxpayers, businesses, schools, and other segments of society by reducing many of the negative consequences that are associated with underage drinking."

The key findings were:

l The total cost of underage drinking in Florida in 2007 was $3.073 billion, or $165 per resident.

l Consistent with previous studies, alcohol-attributable violent crime -- murder, rape/sexual assault, aggravated assault and robbery -- accounted for 49 percent of the total underage drinking costs. This makes alcohol-fueled teen violence responsible for the greatest costs.

l Traffic crashes comprise the next largest component of the total cost at $642.7 million. These costs include medical and emergency services, lost productivity, insurance, administration, workplace and legal costs, travel delay and property damage.

l Alcohol-attributable property loss and other crimes -- motor vehicle theft, household burglary, and larceny -- were estimated to be $316.3 million.

Other categories and corresponding costs include:

l Risky sexual behavior, $291.1 million

l Fetal alcohol syndrome, $75.4 million -- including medical treatment, special education and residential care for persons developmentally disabled.

l Suicides and suicide attempts, $48.3 million

l Alcohol abuse treatment, $2.8 million

l Medical costs, productivity losses, and costs associated with secondary injuries as a result of alcohol -- burns, drownings and poisonings.

Six counties accounted for more than half of the total estimated costs (52 percent) in the state: Miami-Dade, Broward, Orange, Palm Beach, Hillsborough and Duval.

Dade County had the highest numbers in terms of property crime, violent crime, and risky sexual activity. That makes it the county with the highest costs due to underage drinking.

The estimate for Highlands County's costs is $14.1 million

The study's authors wrote that these are the most current estimates of the costs of underage drinking. The authors say that "alcohol-attributable criminal activity and traffic crashes generate the greatest losses to society from underage drinking. Thus, programs targeting crime prevention and driving safely in addition to alcohol use prevention among Florida youth have the greatest potential to educe societal costs associated with underage drinking."