Do soldiers deserve the right to drink?

UCHD/Division of Substance Abuse Position on legal drinking age of 21

Below, you will find attached an op-ed piece from Col. Evan Hoapili (ret) based on his presentation at last month's 10th annual national Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws conference sponsored by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. This is a piece written from Col. Hoapili and it reflects his opinion of the Amethyst Initiative - a call by college and university presidents and chancellors to debate lowering the national drinking age to 18.

Also attached is a statement by the National Association of State and Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, National Prevention Network, and National Treatment Network in support of a legal drinking age of 21. Aditional links and supporting materials are also included.

The Utah County Health Department and Division of Substance Abuse supports these positions. Besides the points made by Col. Hoapili, there is additional evidence that shows that when young people start drinking, damage can be done to their still developing frontal lobe. This is the part of the brain that governs good judgment, complex thinking, decision making, impulse control and the ability to learn and memorize. Studies also show that the earlier an individual starts drinking, the more likely they are to become alcohol dependent.

National Highway Safety statistics on DUI and traffic death aside, there is strong evidence that connects to health and developmental risk to early drinking. Please join with the UCHD and the Division of Substance Abuse in support of retaining our current legal drinking age of 21.

Related Links:

NIAAA Fact Sheet on Underage Drinking and the Adolescent Brain

CADCA Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America

Stop Alcohol Abuse.gov A comprehensive portal of Federal resources for information on underage drinking and ideas for combating this issue

NIAAA NIAAA Fact Sheet on Underage Drinking

NIAAA_research NIAAA’s Alcohol Research & Health Journal, focusing on Alcohol and Youth

NIAAAResearch2 NIAAA’s College Drinking Research

SAMHSA Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP)

SAMHSA_CSAT Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT):

Surgeon General's Office - Communitites A Guide to Action for Communities

Surgeon General's Office - Families A Guide to Action for Families

NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

NIDA National Institute on Drug Abuse

CollegeDrinkingResearch What Colleges Need to Know: An Update on College Drinking Research

Surgeon General's Office - Underage Drinking Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking

NIAAA_Initiative NIAAA’s Underage Drinking Research Initiative

Surgeon General's Office - Educators A Guide to Action for Educators

NASADAD, NPN, NTN National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), National Prevention Network (NPN) and National Treatment Network (NTN)

Alcohol_free_children Leadership to Keep Our Children Alcohol Free

NACoA National Association for Children of Alcoholics

NOFAS National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome