Background:

The public health, safety, consumer protection, education, child and family welfare, and faith communities have fought for years to elevate underage drinking on the national public policy agenda.

In the 108th Congress, several House and Senate members introduced legislation to implement some of the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine’s September 2003 report outlining an evidence-based national strategy to prevent and reduce underage drinking – the “Sober Truth on Preventing (STOP) Underage Drinking Act.”

Those same leaders re-introduced the bill in the 109th Congress: Senators Mike DeWine (R-OH) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-34-CA), Frank Wolf (R-10-VA), Zach Wamp (R-3-TN), Tom Osborne (R-3-NE), and Rosa DeLauro (D-3-CT).

 

What the “STOP Underage Drinking Act” Does:

The STOP Underage Drinking Act includes four major areas of policy development:

1. Establishes Federal Coordination and Reporting (asks for $2 million)

• Creates an Interagency Coordinating Committee to coordinate federal agencies’ efforts; chaired by Secretary of HHS
• Mandates annual report to Congress on agencies’ efforts to combat underage drinking
• Mandates an annual “report card” to track efforts in the States

2. Authorizes National Media Campaign against Underage Drinking (asks for $1 million)

• Authorizes an initial national media campaign directed at adults

• Continues Ad Council PSA campaign begun in FY 2004 – yields an estimated $28 million per year in free media

3. Provides Additional Resources to Prevent Underage Drinking (asks for $10 million)

• Provides alcohol-specific grants through the Drug Free Communities program
• Creates a new program providing competitive grants to states, non-profit entities, and institutions of higher education to create state-wide coalitions to prevent underage drinking and alcohol abuse by college and university students

4. Expands Research, Captures New Surveillance Data on Underage Drinking (asks for $6 million)

• Increases federal research on the impact of underage drinking upon adolescent brain development and data collection on the types and brands of alcohol that underage youth consume.

Links to:

Text of S.408  [PDF]

CSPI Fact Sheets on Youth and Alcohol