Dodd urges for more money to be spent on preventing underage drinking

by Christine Moyer

WASHINGTON - Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) says the federal government needs to spend more on a nationwide effort to prevent underage drinking. But New Britain's youth services director says the money could be better spent trying to find out why young people turn to alcohol and drugs.

Dodd made his pitch at a hearing Tuesday by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services.

The hearing, sparked by a study published in September by the federal Institute of Medicine (IOM) titled, "Reducing underage drinking: a collective responsibility," concentrated on ways to reduce underage drinking, including a possible increase in state and federal taxes on alcohol.

"The consumption of alcohol by our children can literally rob them of their future," Dodd said.

He noted that in 2000, the federal government spent $1.8 billion to discourage illegal drug use and compared to $71 million to discourage underage drinking.

But Christopher Montes, the director of New Britain's youth services, said he wants the government to focus more attention on why children and teens start using drugs, rather than merely on how to get them to quit. "They are treating the symptoms, they're not treating the problem," Montes said in a telephone interview. "The problem is, what's going on that children want to do this? I would rather look at prevention."

According to Montes, New Britain is a small city with a big-city drug problem.

"Obviously, there is underage drinking, but I see more young people using marijuana. They think that pot is cooler than alcohol. It's more 'phat,'" he said. "It's the subculture of the youth."

He said many New Britain children and teens use marijuana to combat a sense of hopelessness and a lack of drive. In the more-affluent surrounding areas, he said, young people use alcohol and drugs in part because they are available, he said.

Dodd said he hoped that the subcommittee hearing would be the starting point for a national strategy to decrease underage drinking.

According to the IOM report, the social costs of underage drinking are close to $53 billion annually. Of that,$19 billion is attributed to automobile accidents and $29 billion to alcohol-related violent crime.

"The word 'staggering' doesn't really do it justice," Dodd said of the costs. "And while no one can argue with the tragic loss of life and significant financial costs associated with underage drinking, too few of us think of the equally devastating loss of potential that occurs when our children begin to drink."

He said he would welcome any money the city received to combat underage alcohol consumption, but added that he hoped he could use the money to help solve the underlying problem-the causes of all kinds of substance abuse.

"So what if I spend money on underage drinking in New Britain?" Montes said. "Then the kids will just smoke pot."