Taking a sobering look
at underage drinking

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Drinking alcohol to get drunk is increasing among Hawaii youths, as well as those across the nation, says Karen Glanz, behavioral scientist at the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii.

Beer, wine and malt liquor are preferred, but the consumption of hard liquor and binge drinking are increasing among underage youths, Glanz said.

Alcohol poisoning also has occurred here, she said.

Glanz is chief investigator for the cancer center, which has a contract with the Office of Youth Services to develop a comprehensive underage drinking prevention campaign.

Project PAU -- Preventing Alcohol Use Among Youth -- is being launched with an 18-month, $360,000 federal grant.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has awarded states funds to address the health, law enforcement and prevention problems of underage drinking.

The legal drinking age in Hawaii is 21.

A Hawaii Student Alcohol Drug Use Survey last year identified alcohol as the "drug of choice" most frequently reported by high school students.

The survey showed 53 percent of students in eighth grade and 71 percent of 10th-graders had used alcohol within the previous year.

A "Needs Assessment: Foundation for Strategic Planning" drafted by a Project PAU statewide council notes that the number of students experimenting with alcohol has stabilized. But the number saying they use alcohol monthly has dramatically increased.

The survey also showed:

High alcohol consumption didn't occur among sixth-graders in previous years, but 5.8 percent reported in 1998 that they had been drunk at least once.

More than 31 percent of students said they had their first alcoholic drink before age 13.

More than 3,000 minors statewide said they need treatment for alcohol dependency or abuse.

The Project PAU council was formed in March to serve as a clearinghouse for information, coordinate projects, provide input and advise the project. It has 35 members representing each island, organizations dealing with minors, and alcohol and government agencies.

The plan will address these key issues: access to alcohol, education and prevention activities, enforcement of underage drinking laws, and media advocacy and policies to raise awareness of underage drinking.

"One of the biggest things we find is, this is an area where there are many things going on but people don't know what's going on," Glanz said.

For example, she said, people say a law is needed to make it illegal for 18-year-olds to buy liquor. They're unaware that it's already illegal for anyone under age 21, she said.

People also say more school-based prevention programs are needed, she said, "yet we found dozens of them."

The council is compiling as much information as possible, as well as statistics, to assist in planning education and prevention projects, she said.

For more information, call Glanz at 586-3076.