Posted on January 21, 2010

Underage drinking in Hawaii cost local residents and businesses $188 million for medical procedures, work loss, and pain and suffering in 2007, according to a federally funded study. The study also reports that 36,000 youths in Hawaii participate in illegal underage drinking every year, and state taxpayers pay $30 million for their substance abuse treatment or drug rehabilitation.

The Underage Drinking in Hawaii study was published in November 2009 by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation with funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), which helps youths in crisis as a program of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The study shows that in 2007, underage youth consumed 5 percent of all alcohol sold in Hawaii; $61 million in alcohol sales to this group equated to $30 million in profits for alcohol companies; youth needing treatment for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome cost taxpayers $3.4 million; and based on student self-reports, 59 percent of Hawaii pupils in grades nine through 12 had at least one drink on one or more days.

The study can be accessed at http://www.udetc.org/factsheets/Hawaii.pdf for more detailed information about this at-risk group. 

A recently completed outcome study was a combined effort between Hawaii and Oklahoma schools and is available at http://www.substanceabusepolicy.com/content/3/1/8.