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Underage drinking cost U.S. citizens an estimated $61.9 billion in 2001. That figure includes medical care, work loss, and pain and suffering associated with the many problems that result from alcohol use by youth. Violence (homicide, suicide, aggravated assault) and traffic crashes represent the largest costs—but not the only ones. For example, among teenage mothers, fetal alcohol syndrome alone costs the country $925.6 million.

These dollar estimates, developed by the Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center (see below), are only part of the story. Underage drinking has tremendous human costs, for individual youth, their families and friends, and society as a whole.

In 1998, Congress recognized the seriousness of underage drinking and its related problems by appropriating funds to encourage the enforcement of underage drinking laws throughout the country. Administered by OJJDP, the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Program is the only federal initiative focused exclusively on preventing underage drinking. Congress has appropriated $25 million annually for EUDL activities.

The strategic goal of the EUDL Program is to reduce the availability of alcoholic beverages to minors and the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors. The initiative has four programmatic elements: block grants to each state and the District of Columbia, discretionary grants to selected states to demonstrate the implementation of best or most promising activities at the local level, technical assistance to guide states and communities in their efforts, and a national evaluation (plus specialized evaluations) of the EUDL Program.

Essential Actions for Reducing Underage Drinking

In September 2003, the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council within the National Academies of Science (NAS) released Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility, which recommends 40 essential actions in 10 general areas. Through its grants and technical assistance, EUDL supports 18 of the 40 recommended actions—and 13 of the 14 recommendations specific to reducing youth access to alcohol.

Supporting State and Local Innovation

With EUDL funding, states and local communities throughout the country have documented increases in retail compliance with state alcohol laws and achieved environmental changes that support and enhance enforcement efforts. (See "Success Stories.")

Intensive "on-the-ground" work has resulted from EUDL discretionary grants. To date, 29 states have received discretionary funding, reaching more than 250 communities. With these funds, communities have significantly increased the capacity of law enforcement agencies to enforce underage drinking laws, engaged youth in leadership activities to deter underage drinking, developed coalitions to support enforcement efforts, and addressed the challenging issue of alcohol consumption on college campuses.

In addition to discretionary grants, OJJDP has awarded block grants each year to every state and the District of Columbia. These funds have supported the establishment of statewide task forces, public education campaigns, and innovative programs to prevent underage drinking.

Assessing Effectiveness of Best Practices: Community Trials Initiative

During the FY 2003 and FY 2004 grant years, OJJDP enhanced the EUDL discretionary grant program by introducing the Community Trials Initiative, which uses rigorous research methods to assess the effectiveness of evidence-based practices in the EUDL Program context. Five states—California , Connecticut, Florida, Missouri, and New York—were selected to implement "best or most promising practices" in seven communities. Participating communities conduct compliance checks of 90 percent of retail outlets that sell alcoholic beverages and emphasize enforcement of driving-under-the-influence laws with young drivers. Each community also implements a law enforcement activity and introduces or enhances a policy selected from a list of best or most promising practices to reduce underage drinking. Researchers from the EUDL national evaluation team (see below) are evaluating the Community Trials Initiative.

Addressing Problems in Rural Communities

Recognizing that alcohol is the primary drug of abuse in many rural areas, OJJDP developed a new EUDL discretionary grant program in FY 2004. The Rural Communities Initiative is helping four states—Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania—implement research-based best practices to enforce underage drinking laws and prevent and reduce underage drinking in rural communities. In addition to activities similar to those in the Community Trials Initiative, rural communities are also implementing environmental strategies to reduce alcohol consumption on or near school sites. Researchers funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism are helping to design and evaluate the rural communities' programs.

Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center

In 1999, OJJDP established the Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center (UDETC) to provide practical, effective, science-based training and technical assistance to states and communities working to combat underage drinking through law enforcement and environmental change. UDETC achieves this goal through several services:

• Onsite training. UDETC has conducted more than 400 training sessions on underage drinking law enforcement operations, development of effective underage drinking prevention policies, strategic use of media, and development of youth leadership.
  
  
• Monthly audioteleconferences. These events enable individuals throughout the country to learn from researchers, policymakers, and advocates working at the state and local levels. The conferences address a variety of topics related to underage drinking. Recent topics include Reducing Underage Drinking Among Middle and High School Athletes, Addressing Underage Drinking Problems on College Campuses: Using Research To Guide Practice, What You Should Know About Alcohol Beverage Types, Party Prevention and Controlled Party Dispersal, and Campaign Matters: Using Media to Maximize Success.
  
  
• Publications. UDETC has produced 26 documents that provide an overview and framework for addressing underage drinking, measurement tools, operational guidance for law enforcement personnel, and guidance for addressing underage drinking in specific types of communities (e.g., college communities).
  
  
• Monthly electronic newsletter. UDETC distributes a monthly newsletter, Resource Alerts, containing information about current developments, new resources, and emerging research on underage drinking.
  
  
• Toll-free technical assistance hotline. Technical assistance is available through a 24-hour hotline (877–335–1287) and via e-mail (udetc@udetc.org).
  
  
• Online databases. EUDL-funded sites can record and monitor underage drinking enforcement activity on UDETC-maintained databases.

Annual National Leadership Conference

The EUDL Program hosts an annual conference for EUDL-funded states and communities. The next conference, "Law Enforcement and Communities: Sustaining Progress, Blazing New Trails," will take place in Tucson, AZ, August 18–20, 2005. To learn more about the conference, visit the UDETC Web site. A related article will appear in the next issue of OJJDP News @ a Glance.

Evaluation: A Key Component of the EUDL Program

The EUDL national evaluation team at Wake Forest University School of Medicine examines how states and communities use EUDL funds and evaluates the EUDL Program's impact in a sample of communities. (For information on the EUDL national evaluation, visit www.phsintranet.wfubmc.edu/eudl2/.)

EUDL researchers have published a number of journal articles based on data collected as part of the evaluation. These articles report on how youth alcohol abuse correlates with other health risk behaviors and with female sexual victimization and on the relationship between parental practices and underage drinking. In the coming year, the EUDL national evaluation team will publish reports based on impact surveys of law enforcement officials and on surveys in which youth answer questions about their alcohol use and related risk behaviors and negative consequences. The team will also release data from its evaluation of the EUDL Community Trial Initiative.

The Future

According to research cited on the UDETC Web site in "Spotlight: Scope of the Problem," more than 13 million underage youth drink each year, and underage drinkers consumed more than 16 percent of all alcohol sold in 2001. Although the successes reported by EUDL-funded communities are encouraging, statistics such as these show clearly that much work remains to be done.

Since the inception of the EUDL Program, national attention to underage drinking and related problems has increased significantly. The NAS report—a significant milestone in the effort to reduce alcohol consumption by youth—has generated greater demand for EUDL Program assistance. The EUDL Program remains committed to helping states and communities address underage drinking problems and will continue to provide research-based guidance on reducing youth access to alcohol through enforcement and other environmental approaches.