Headline: "Most kids don't drink. "Oh, wait: not alarmist enuff...

"Most kids don't drink, and portion of drinkers drops every year;" See Figure

3.6. Oh, wait: not alarmist enuff: "28% of U.S. Kids Drank Alcohol in Past

Month." OK, that's better.





http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_96861.html











"Most kids don't drink, and portion of drinkers drops every year;" See Figure

3.6. Oh, wait: not alarmist enuff: "28% of U.S. Kids Drank Alcohol in Past

Month." OK, that's better.





http://oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k8nsduh/2k8Results.cfm#Fig3-1

---figure 3.6...

..or any such report.









How will all of us health experts and researchers and psychologists get public

support if we cannot prove that some catastrophe is afoot?



Public Health Crisis I tell ya!!! Plus: look at that poor "kid:" pooring red

wine into a container that is obviously not a red wine glass! The Horror!





Without the Public Health Crisis alarmism, how can we air bold statements such

as this, " "Underage drinking is a national crisis putting the lives of

millions of Americans at risk as well as the futures of many of our youth,"

agency administrator Pamela S. Hyde said..."



Well, we thought about this: "Public health, education, and law enforcement

efforts aimed at reducing teen alcohol use are working."



But it just did not have the zing to it that "28% of U.S. Kids Drank Alcohol

in Past Month" has.



Who are these kids?





They are adults.





They are from the ages of 18 to 20. In most states, a person becomes a legal

adult at the age of 18.



I am not arguing here for or against a drinking age other than 21.



What I am noting is that the term "kids" does not apply to a legal adult.



Unless you want to create a sense of panic amongst the general public.



We don't say, "A thousand kids were just sent into a war zone last week,"

leaving the reader to note in the fine print that these were legal adults in

the armed forces, fighting as armed forces do.



well, some people do. Some don't like 18 yr old to 20 yr old kids being sent

into war zones, trained or not. However, that group of concerned citizens is

strongly the group who are opposed to persons of any age being sent into a war

zone as part of a normal, standing army.





As you might guess, now that you have moved beyond their headline to consider

mine, is that past-month use of alcohol increases for these demographic groups

as age rises. You got it. By time you get to the 18-20yo cohort, you see fair

amts of past-month alc use. By time you get to legal drinking age, you see a

big jump, too.





So, what we are left with is alarmism.





When do we get to pat ourselves on the back? Drinking rates are dropping. We

need encouragement so that we do not get burnout from the disaster-scenario

headliens we hear every day, and or get the idea that, despite efforts across

decades, nothing seems to work.





What does work?



Here is a clue: Lowest rates are in Utah.



What are we to do with that info?