For Immediate Release:

APRIL 11, 2013

 

Proclaim month of April as “Alcohol Awareness Month”

 

FREEHOLD, NJ – On April 11 the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders designated the month of April as Alcohol Awareness Month and presented a proclamation to Mary Pat Angelini, Executive Director of Prevention First.

“Alcohol abuse is a serious problem in our community and the statistics of abuse among the youth are absolutely frightening,” said Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone. “As elected officials, we need to do everything in our power to raise awareness of this epidemic and protect our children.”

 

Despite the fact that all 50 states have enacted a 21-year-old minimum age drinking law, nearly 10 million current drinkers in the United States are between the ages of 12-20, and underage drinking is the primary drug problem affecting our nation's youth.

 

“Alcohol abuse is a crisis," said Freeholder John P. Curley, liaison to the Department of Human Services. “It is a fight within the individual, within the family and within the community. Prevention First does a great job in helping to raise awareness in our county and our community.”

 

Statistics show that many young people begin drinking at 13 years of age and that young people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21.           

 

Alcohol is the most frequently used drug by high-school seniors, and alcohol abuse is linked to as many as two-thirds of all sexual assaults and date rapes of teens and college students and is closely associated with juvenile crime, homicides, suicides, violence and poor academic performance.

 

With the 2013 the theme of “Help for Today. Hope for Tomorrow,” the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Prevention First and the Board of Chosen Freeholders are joined in supporting the increase of community awareness, understanding and action to address underage drinking in our community.

 

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