Missouri Coalition to Reduce Alcohol Use by Children and Youth

WHO

• Sponsoring agency:  ACT Missouri, a private, not-for-profit corporation founded in 1991 to serve as a catalyst for solving social problems that challenge families and youth.

• Coordinator:  Missouri’s Youth/Adult Alliance (MYAA), a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation project whose mission is to empower community advocates to reduce youth access to alcohol through the implementation of environmental and social policy change.

WHAT

• Goal:  To reduce the use of alcohol by Missouri’s children and youth and thereby reduce associated problems affecting their health, safety and well-being

• Objective:  To increase the age when Missouri children and youth have their first drink of alcohol beyond a few sips.  Currently, approximately 19,800 students had their first drink of alcohol by the sixth grade.  Many 12-year-olds in this state are drinking alcohol frequently and to excess.

• Objective:  To find long-term solutions to substantially change the drinking patterns of children and youth in Missouri.  Early use of the drug alcohol places children and youth on a potentially addictive path with devastating consequences.

HOW

• The Coalition wants the Missouri legislature to pass legislation that will create a consistent source of annual revenue.  No state resources have previously been allocated solely for comprehensive prevention approaches to alcohol use by children and youth. 

• Currently, Missouri appropriates $7 to $10 million annually for community prevention.  Based on a report by the National Association of County and City Health Officials, Missouri needs an additional $40 million annually for comprehensive prevention.

WHERE

• Our proposal would create county-wide funds in all 114 counties and the city of St. Louis supported by a long-term, sustainable source of revenue.  

WHEN 

• Beginning with the 2002 legislative session, the Coalition would like to see each county receive a per-capita allocation to implement comprehensive prevention of alcohol use by children and youth. 

WHY

• Youth who drink before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21.

• As drinking children reach adolescence, they are 7.5 times more likely to be arrested and charged with breaking the law.

• The cost of underage drinking to Missourians is estimated to be more than $1.16 billion each year, or $207.33 per citizen.  Costs include traffic crashes, interpersonal violence, unintentional drownings, burns, suicides, fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol poisonings and treatment for alcohol dependence and abuse.

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