'Grim truth' about July 4th weekend: drunk teens

Underage drinking over the Fourth of July weekend brings double the usual number of boys to emergency rooms, according to a government report.

The study showed that during the 2009 Fourth of July weekend, there were an average of 622 emergency room visits per day related to drinking by boys between the ages of 12 and 20. There were an average of 304 such visits per day during the rest of that month, according to the report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

There were 320 visits per day over that holiday weekend related to drinking by underage girls, up from that month's daily average of 273, the report said.

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"This study sheds light on the grim truth that holidays are too often marked by a surge in underage drinking – turning what should be a time of celebration into a time of tragedy," said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde. “Clear parental disapproval of alcohol use by their children can assist in preventing underage drinking.

There were 200,000 visits to ERs for underage drinking in 2009, a number that had remained since a previous report in 2004, another recent study by the administration showed.

The study was based on SAMHSA’s 2009 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) report. DAWN is a public health surveillance system that monitors drug-related hospital emergency department visits reported throughout the nation.

Pass it on:  Underage boys double their risk for ending up in an ER for drinking over Fourth of July Weekend.

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