Studies examine problem of underage alcohol use

At the ages of 11 and 12, kids are being exposed to alcohol, said Lisa Hutcheson, director of the Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking.\nAccording to a new study by the IPRC, binge drinking in Indiana is higher than the national average. Almost 35 percent of seniors in Indiana high schools reported binge drinking in 2000, compared to 30.8 percent nationally.\nBut it's not just binge drinking; about 50 percent of high school seniors drink on a monthly basis.\nIn 2000, 4.1 percent of sophomores reported drinking alcohol daily, down from 5.2 percent, according to the IPRC. Although the rate is decreasing, it is still higher than the national average of 1.9 percent in 1999.\nIt's not just a problem in Indiana, according to a Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study of college students. The study reports that more than half (54 percent) of underage students said it was "very easy" to obtain alcohol and 40 percent said that it was "easy." \nEighty percent of underage students obtained alcohol from of-age students, but 50 percent also obtained it from other underage students, according to the study.\n"For underage students, alcohol is free, but movies and other things cost money," said Patrick Wanzer, youth director at the Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking.\nTwenty-five percent of underage students get free drinks, and 32 percent pay a set price for an unlimited number of drinks, the CAS study reported.\n"Part of this problem is that students in rural areas, like Indiana, say that there's nothing else to do," said Wanzer, Youth Director of the Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking. \nDee Owens, director of the IU Alcohol-Drug Information Center, said, "this isn't the case, at least on campus."\n"I met with a group of freshmen this year, and I asked them if they felt that there was nothing to do on campus," she said. "They said that there was too much to do, not too little. They got involved with *campus organizations and service projects within the community." \nOwens said it might appear that everyone is drinking, but that it's not true. \nAmong undergraduates at IU, 53.5 percent said they have less than four drinks per week, according to a survey by Southern Illinois University.\nAwareness is stressed as a solution.\nThe Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking combats the problem through awareness and sends information to smaller campus and local groups to educate students. It is also kicking off an orange-ribbon campaign, beginning in February and ending in April, to spread awareness of the dangers of drinking and to remind students of the law and the judgment calls they make when they drink, such as drinking and driving.\nThe policies need to be strictly enforced and hold students responsible for their actions, the CAS study said.\nDespite that, administrators feel that enacting stricter policies will not curb the problem.\n"If anything, the problem gets worse as kids get older," Hutcheson said.