Keeping Glen Cove SAFE: Underage Drinking Awareness Campaign
Keeping Glen Cove SAFE: Underage Drinking Awareness Campaign
Monitoring the Future (MTF) is one of the nation’s most relied upon scientific sources of valid information on trends in use of licit and illicit psychoactive drugs by U.S. adolescents, college students, young adults, and adults up to age 60. MTF is conducted each year by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.
The MTF survey is given annually to students in eighth, 10th, and 12th grades who self-report their substance use behaviors over various time periods, such as past 30 days, past 12 months, and lifetime. The survey also documents students’ perception of harm, disapproval of use, and perceived availability of drugs and has been doing so since 1975.
In 2024, significant decreases in lifetime and past 12-month use of alcohol in 12th and 10th grades continued a long-standing decline that began in the late 1990s, more than two decades ago. The percentage of students who used alcohol in the past 12 months in 2024 was 42% in 12th grade (compared to 75% in 1997), 26% in 10th grade (compared to 65% in 1997), and 13% in 8th grade (compared to 46% in 1997). These declines are evident in specific survey questions that ask about use of beer, wine, and liquor.
The decreases in alcohol use in 2024 continue a long term, overall decline that has taken place since the year 2000 in all three grades. From 2000 to 2024, past 12-month prevalence has decreased from 73% to 42% in 12th grade, from 65% to 26% in 10th grade, and from 43% to 13% in 8th grade.
Binge drinking was lower in 2024 than in 2023 for all three grades, but these one-year decreases were not statistically significant however demonstrate a slow but steady long-term decline in which prevalence levels from 2000 to 2024 have fallen from 30% to 9% in 12th grade, from 24% to 5% in 10th grade, and from 12% to 2% in 8th grade. Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks in a row at least once during the past two weeks.
Prevalence of being drunk in the past 12 months in 2024 significantly declined in 10th grade and was little changed in 8th and 12th grade.
Being drunk has been in a long-term decline in all three grades for lifetime, past 12-month, and past 30-day use. The declines began first among 8th graders after 1996, then among 10th graders after 2000, and in 12th grade after 2004.
In 2024, prevalence of beer drinking declined in all grades for the three reporting intervals of lifetime, past 12-month, and past 30-day use. These declines were all statistically significant, with the one exception of past 30-day use in 8th grade, which at a 2024 prevalence of 2% had little room to fall further. In all grades and in all reporting intervals, levels are at the lowest recorded by the survey.
These one-year declines were substantial, with lifetime use decreasing by an absolute 9% in 12th grade (from 32% to 23%), 7% in 10th grade (from 19% to 12%), and by 4% in 8th grade (from 9% to 5%). The corresponding declines in overall alcohol use were not as large, suggesting that some youth eschewed beer but not alcohol use in general.
In the long term, beer use has declined substantially in all grades. From 1991 to 2024, lifetime use decreased in 12th grade from 82% to 32%, in 10th grade from 74% to 18%, and in 8th grade from 59% to 10%. Similarly large, long -term declines have also taken place for past 12-month and past 30-day use.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): NIDA is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug use and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy, improve practice, and advance addiction science. For more information about NIDA and its programs, visit https://www.nida.nih.gov/.
Local and County Resources
Central Nassau Guidance and Counseling Services
Charles Evans Center Glen Cove
Long Island Addictions Resource Center
Long Island Center for Recovery
Long Island Council of Alcoholism & Drug Dependance (LICADD)
Nassau Alliance For Addiction Services (NAFAD)
South Oaks with Northwell Health
YES Community Counseling Center
National Resources and Data
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Alcohol and Public Health; Underage Drinking
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Alcohol and Public Health: Addressing Excessive Alcohol Use: State Fact Sheets
CDC works with states and communities to prevent excessive alcohol use and its impact. These fact sheets highlight the public health problem and the status of alcohol policy solutions in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Alcohol and Public Health: New York The Numbers: Average Number of Deaths from Excessive Drinking is More Than 6,700
Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking: Stop Underage Drinking: Communities Talk
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: Underage Drinking
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: Alcohol and Your Brain – A Virtual Reality Experience (video)
New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports: OASAS
Portal for Federal Underage Drinking: Resources
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA)
Tips for Teens: Underage Drinking: Myth vs Facts-For preteens and teens. It compares the myths with the facts about alcohol use among youth and the effects of alcohol use. This fact sheet can help parents and prevention professionals start conversations about underage drinking and alcohol misuse.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: Women and Alcohol
Research shows that alcohol use and misuse among women are increasing While alcohol misuse by anyone presents serious public health concerns, women who drink have a higher risk of certain alcohol-related problems compared to men.
Resources for Alcohol and Substance Prevention and Treatment Providers
The Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC) Network develops and disseminates tools and strategies needed to improve the quality of substance abuse prevention efforts and provide training and technical assistance services to the substance use/misuse prevention field.
Alcohol Awareness Toolkit Seeks to raise awareness about alcohol-related harms and the importance of strong alcohol policies for prevention and public health providers to strategically educate and inform decision makers about effective alcohol policies by providing easy-to-personalize, templated opinion editorials, letters to legislators and proclamations.
Healthcare Professional’s Core Resource on Alcohol. Developed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to provides clinicians with articles, insights, and tools to improve alcohol-related healthcare and clinical outcomes.
