Report: 58% of underage Pa. residents carded, served booze anyway in 2022
By John L. Micek – Capital-Star
HARRISBURG, PA – A newly released state report on underaged and at-risk drinking in Pennsylvania might take some of the fizz out of your favorite tonic.
The bottom line:
• “Research has shown that excessive alcohol use was responsible for an estimated one in eight deaths among adults between 20 and 64 years old,” liquor regulators asserted in their report.
• About 4.2 million (11.1%) of 12- to 20-year-olds reported binge drinking at least once in the past month, the state data showed.
• In 2022, 58% of underage buyers were carded for alcohol and still served during Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement age-compliance checks at licensed establishments, according to liquor regulators.
“The most widely used substance among youth in the U.S. is alcohol. Underage alcohol consumption results in thousands of deaths annually due to motor vehicle crashes, violence, suicide and alcohol poisoning, to name a few causes,” the report’s authors wrote. “Underage drinking can also lead to long-term cognitive impairment and decreased academic performance, as well as increase the chances of developing an alcohol use disorder as an adult.”
What’s behind it?
According to the state, three factors: The rise of alcopops, higher alcohol by volume (ABV) beers, alcohol slushies and borgs (blackout rage gallons), which are pretty much what they sound like, and are a variation on the clear booze and powdered drink mix of your youth.
And “with information available on the internet and in social media, teens are learning creative ways to inhale, communicate about and hide alcohol,” the report’s authors noted.
Cars and Booze — Still a deadly combination.
According to the report, there were 9,220 alcohol-related crashes in Pennsylvania in 2021, up from 7,700 in 2020.
Alcohol-related fatalities also increased to 311 in 2021 from 293 in 2020. And even though “alcohol-related crashes accounted for approximately 8% of the total crashes in 2021, they accounted for 25% of fatal crashes.
“Alcohol-related crashes were four times more likely to result in a fatality than those not related to alcohol (3.2% of the alcohol-related crashes resulted in fatality, compared to 0.8% of crashes that were not alcohol-related),” the report’s authors noted.
Nationwide, “alcohol-impaired driving crashes increased 14% from 2020 to 2021, higher than total traffic fatalities, which increased by 10%,” the report’s authors wrote.
