A survey conducted over two years, found that over 5 million high

school students (or 31 percent) binge drink at least once a month. Binge drinking, which is defined as having five or more drinks in a sitting, increased 56 percent among 18-to 20-year-olds, who are too young to drink legally (Reaves, cbsnews.com). For the first time ever, teenage girls are almost likely to drink as much as teen boys. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) found that overall alcohol use among teens involved 48% of girls and 52% of boys. “Experts say alcohol is more problematic for women, who metabolize it more slowly and become intoxicated more quickly than men. They also tend to become alcohol-dependent faster” (Thomas). Forty percent of ninth graders (male and female) admit to drinking at least occasionally. By their senior year in high school, 80 percent of teenagers had tried alcohol (Reaves). In a survey of Americans age 12-17, the average person took their first drink before age 13. Teens who use alcohol before the

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