AMA admits '21’ laws are 'easily avoided’
Pub Date: 9/1/2005
The American Medical Association, along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, recently made news when it released the results of a survey on youth drinking that mirrored findings in a Century Council study conducted over two years ago.
AMA President J. Edward Hill said in a news release, "Policies and law enforcement efforts to stop minors from obtaining alcohol are important, but this data reveals how easily avoided those laws and policies can be when legal-aged buyers are the leading source of alcohol for children."
The Century Council in a May 2003 study found that 65 percent of alcohol illegally obtained by the under-aged came from adult providers, while only seven percent was purchased from retailers who did not check identification.
Some in the industry have been calling for more resources to be dedicated to the real crux of the problem of-age suppliers rather than continually spending more to "sting" irresponsible retailers who account for a much smaller portion of the problem.
Hill also pointed out that some teenagers actually steal their alcohol from the adults in the home. The AMA report said two out of three teens, aged 13-18, said it is easy to get alcohol from their homes without parents knowing about it.
One third responded that it is easy to obtain alcohol from their own parents knowingly, which increases to 40 percent when it is from a friend's parent. And one in four teens (said they) have attended a party where minors were drinking in front of parents.
"From a public health standpoint, these findings are frankly disturbing," said Hill. "While it is of great concern to see how easily teens, especially young girls, get alcohol, it is alarming to know that legal-age adults, even parents, are supplying the alcohol."
Harry Wiles, executive director of the American Beverage Licensees agreed.
"we've been saying for a long time that retailers, as a source of illegal alcohol for the underage, is a relatively small part of the problem," Wiles said, "yet a disproportionately large share of resources spent to reduce underage drinking targets retailers. There's a real disconnect here.
"We're working with our members every day on ways to implement the most responsible retailing practices available," Wiles continued. "But the biggest part of the problem 65 percent is of-age adults who provide alcohol to minors. That is clearly where we ought to be dedicating more resources."
In the AMA adult poll, about one out of four U.S. parents with children, aged 12-20 (26 percent), agree that teens should be able to drink at home with their parents present.
"Parents allowing underage children to drink under their supervision are under a dangerous misperception," said Hill. "Injuries and car accidents after such parent-hosted parties remind us that no parent can completely control the actions of intoxicated youth, during or after a party. And the main message children hear is that drinking illegally is okay."
Other key findings of the two polls include:
¢Nearly one in four teens, aged 13-18, and one in three girls, aged 16-18, say their own parents have supplied them with alcohol, and teens who have obtained alcohol reported that, in the past six months, parents were the suppliers three times on average.
¢While 71 percent of parents with children, aged 12-20, disagreed with the statement that teen drinking was okay if a parent were present, 76 percent think it is likely that teenagers get alcohol from someone's parent and they knew about it.
¢One out of four parents of children, aged 12-20 (25 percent), say they have allowed their teens to drink with their supervision in the past six months. Approximately one in 12 (8 percent) indicated they have allowed their teen's friends to also drink under their supervision in the past six months.
Parents and physicians do not bare the burden alone for reducing high-risk drinking, said Hill. A teen's desire to drink is also important to address, and the alcohol industry should be ashamed of itself for its extensive and aggressive promotion of products to those too young to buy them. The alcohol industry makes a parent's job much harder when it flaunts products at sporting events, festivals and concerts with little regard for the social and health consequences.
However, both the brewing and distilling industries have for years administered programs aiming to minimize youth exposure to alcohol advertising as well as assure advertising conforms to community standards for good taste.
Source: The ABL Leader, Sept., 2005, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.