Groups discuss problem of underage drinking in Partners in Prevention forum

Because the brain continues to develop until age 25, the effects of underage drinking can be severely damaging, Lorri Essary with the East Texas Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse said Thursday night.

Essary was one of several speakers, including youth, who talked to the community at an underage drinking prevention forum at Maude Cobb Activity Center. The forum was held by Partners in Prevention's Action Committee Against Underage Drinking and Youth Action Committee.

"Underage drinking is not just a problem in Longview," said Holly Fuller with Partners in Prevention. "It's a problem across the country."

To educate the community on the effects of underage drinking, 1,602 forums will be held across the country this week and the next, she said.

"There are so many choices out there for teens. We want to educate them and the community. You have to make a better choice for yourself," said Kim Higgins, a Mothers Against Drunk Driving program specialist.

Using research from Paul Thompson, a professor in the department of neurology and biomedical engineering at UCLA, Essary talked about brain development.

The brain is divided into four regions called lobes. The frontal lobe - the area of the brain that controls thinking, reasoning and judgment - might not be fully developed until the mid-20s, Essary said.

"What we do can really have an incredible impact during that time," she said.

Because a teenage brain still is developing the areas of judgment, planning and impulse control, teens tend to be more willing to take risks especially concerning alcohol, Essary said.

"This can have a critical impact," she said. "This is the time when the brain is extremely vulnerable."

Peak points of brain development and activity occur during the first year of life, when a child first starts school, and during the teenage years from 15-17, she said.

Debbie Barnes, also with ETCADA, said the teenage brain has not developed all of its sensory points that would help control excessive drinking, such as sleepiness as a sign of too much alcohol consumption.

"If their focus is drinking and the use of alcohol, and they don't get sleepy, they may continue to drink alcohol," Barnes said.

The legal blood alcohol concentration in Texas is .08 percent. A blood alcohol concentration of .65 percent can result in death, Essary said.

"Teens can die because their brain does not say warning, warning, overload," Essary said.

She added that processing time and thinking are delayed by alcohol.

Binge drinking — consuming a large amount of alcoholic beverages in a single session — is too common among teens, she said. The effects of one day of binge drinking can last two to three weeks.

Binge drinking is defined as five drinks for a man and four drinks for a woman.

"Alcohol can have a serious impact on someone's future," Essary said. "People who are drinking by the age of 18 are four times more likely to become alcohol dependent."

In a debate, high school student Tanreka Smith said living in a passive society is a cause of teenage drinking.

"People are a product of their society," Smith said. "Many people are turning their back on children who are consuming alcohol."

Smith said that sometimes parents think it is OK for their children to drink as long as a parent is watching.

"A passive society is a cause of teen drinking," Smith said. "Peer pressure also oftentimes in our society goes unchecked. We pressure each other into doing things. America is on the decline into moral decay."

Fuller encouraged parents to help their children stay safe.

"As adults we have a responsibility and really a great power in our hands to change this," she said.

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