On the recordApril 13, 2011
This week, during Alcohol Awareness Month, I will introduce what I believe is the next logical step in Federal efforts to prevent underage drinking. My bill, the Reauthorization of the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act, builds on the successful public health efforts of the original bill, better known as the STOP Act. Since the STOP Act became law in 2006, there have been increased community efforts to address underage drinking as a public health crisis, and we have seen localized improvement in teen drinking statistics. While these positive results are encouraging, the fact remains alcohol still is the primary drug of choice of our youth. In 2009, about 10.4 million teens aged 12 to 20 reported drinking alcohol in the past month. Of these, approximately 6.9 million were binge drinkers, and 2.1 million were heavy drinkers. Alarmingly, according to the latest publication of the Monitoring the Future survey, 53.7 percent of 12th graders believe drinking five or more alcoholic beverages once or twice each weekend is not a significant risk. These facts leave little doubt about the need to continue Federal underage drinking prevention efforts to educate our society about the dangers of alcohol abuse among our youth.…
