Meehan Supports Bill to Prevent Underage Drinking
WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 – U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan announced Thursday that he is co-sponsoring a bill that would provide federal money to curb teen drinking.
“Thousands of middle and high school age students take their first drink every day,” Meehan said in a press release. “It is time for Congress to support a prevention program that teaches today’s youth about the dangers of underage drinking.”
The bill, called the Sober Truth on Preventing (STOP) Underage Drinking Act, was introduced Wednesday in both the Senate and House. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) are among the co-sponsors of the bill, which was first introduced last July.
“The members co-sponsoring the ‘STOP Underage Drinking Act’ hail from both parties and both houses of Congress,” said Jim O’Hara, the executive director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, in a statement Wednesday. “Such broad and continued leadership on reducing underage drinking is essential if we are to safeguard our children, their health and their futures.”
In addition to allotting $10 million in grants for underage drinking prevention programs, the bill would create an interagency coordinating committee to coordinate prevention efforts and provide annual reports on their progress.
“Underage drinking is the top public health issue facing our children today,” Meehan said. “We have a responsibility to educate our children about the dangers of alcohol abuse.”
The bill also would fund underage drinking research as well as a national media campaign to educate adults about the dangers of underage drinking.
“Limiting youth access to alcohol is essential to solving the underage drinking problem, and this legislation will help reach adults with the cold hard facts: the earlier teens drink the more likely they are to become alcohol dependent and to drive drunk,” said Wendy J. Hamilton, the national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, in a press release Wednesday.
Raising awareness among adults about the risks of underage drinking is “very critical,” said Stephen Wallace, the chairman and chief executive officer of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), during a phone interview Thursday.
In 1981, SADD was founded as Students Against Driving Drunk in Wayland, Mass. Now located in Marlborough, Mass., SADD is one of the largest peer-to-peer youth education organizations in the country.
“The kids are getting the booze from somewhere,” Wallace said. “In my experience, far too often adults are facilitators of that illegal behavior.”
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