Underage Drinking and Memorial Day Weekend

There is a direct correlation between underage drinking and trips to the hospital emergency room during Memorial Day weekend.

In a report from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) shows that hospital emergency room visits related to underage drinking rise by 11 percent over Memorial Day weekend. Healthfinder.gov reported that this study shows people under twenty-one who combine alcohol and illegal drugs are 27 percent more likely to visit hospital emergency rooms over the Memorial Day weekend compared to an average day. On average there are 199 such visits per day during holiday weekends compared to 156 visits on other days. "Underage drinking poses an enormous public health risk - approximately 5,000 people die each year from alcohol-related injuries connected to underage drinking", said Pamela S. Hyde, administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMSA). She also stated, "Moreover, studies have shown that children who begin drinking before age 15 are six times more likely to develop alcohol problems than people who start drinking after they reach age 21". The SAMSA report is based on stats from 2008.