Teenage drinking at 40-year low in US

Teenage drinking is at its lowest level since the 1970s, a major federal study by a group of US academics has revealed.

DISCUS claims that the decline in underage drinking in the US indicates that proposed anti-alcohol measures are unnecessary

The National Institute on Drug Abuse and the University of Michigan jointly released the survey, called Monitoring the Future.

It found that alcohol consumption rates among 8^th, 10^th and 12^th graders continued its two-decade decline, decreasing greatly since the mid-1990s. The amount of teenagers indulging in underage drinking now sits at its lowest number since the study’s inception in 1975.

Peter Cressy, president of the Distilled Spirits Council US (DISCUS), the trade association representing producers and marketers of distilled spirits sold in the US, welcomed the findings. He said: “This underscores that through effective partnerships with industry, government and communities, we can work together to produce historic results.”

Cressy added that the survey also shows that the “misguided” policies proposed by anti-alcohol advocacy groups are “way off base”.

DISCUS has been a vocal opponent to recent calls for reduced alcohol access for adults, greater taxation and advertising bans in the alcohol industry.

Approximately 45,449 students from 395 public and private schools participated in the Monitoring the Future survey.

The news comes as a report is released in the UK claiming that despite the fact the British people are drinking less than they were seven years ago, young people are far more likely to drink heavily than any other age category.

The survey, carried out by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), also found that Londoners are consuming less alcohol than people in any other part of the country.

According to the ONS, 58% of people in the UK were likely to have had a drink in the last week, while in London the figure sat at 51%