Lucille Roybal-Allard: “in 2006, Congress passed the STOP Act to reduce the tragedy of underage drinking in our country. Today, I rise to…”

“in 2006, Congress passed the STOP Act to reduce the tragedy of underage drinking in our country. Today, I rise to introduce the Support 21 Act of 2009, which builds upon that effort. The 2006 STOP Act provided the first Federal community grants to address under age drinking as a public health crisis. While we are encouraged by reports of localized positive results, alcohol remains a dangerous primary drug of choice among our youth. Just listen to these statistics: In 2007, about 10.7 million teens, aged 12 to 20, reported drinking alcohol in the past month. Approximately 7.2 million were binge drinkers, and 2.3 million were heavy drinkers. According to the latest Monitoring the Future Survey, slightly over 43 percent of twelfth graders said they had used alcohol in the past 30 days. Clearly, too many children and parents are ignoring the facts or do not fully understand the dangers that under age drinking poses. Equally alarming is a recent movement by a group of college presidents to lower the minimum drinking age to 18. These college presidents are choosing to ignore research finding that alcohol has a potentially damaging impact on adolescent brain development. Madam Speaker, the teenage years represent a critical window of opportunity for understanding, preventing and treating alcoholism. We know that people who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence as an adult than those who wait until the age of 21.”