Alcohol Abuse in College Age Women
The following data comes from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse in the U.S. (similar in Canada ? ? ?)
In the 1960’s, only 7 % of American girls reported having their first alcoholic drink between the ages of 10 and 14. Today, nearly 1/4 of all American girls report beginning to drink before age 13. Over the past 50 years, the rate at which boys abuse alcohol has remained roughly constant. Over the same time period, the rate at which girls abuse alcohol has roughly quadrupled. Today, about 40% of girls in grade 9 drink alcohol, compared with about 42% grade 9 boys. More than 1 in 4 high school girls engage in binge drinking. Among college students who meet clinical criteria for alcohol abuse, young women now slightly outnumber young men, 5 to 4. Between 1999 and 2008, the number of males arrested for driving while intoxicated (DUI) dropped by 7%; the number of females arrested for DUI rose by 35% over the same period.
Statistics like these give the phrase “gender equality” a whole new meaning. (Dr. Leonard Sax – Girls on the Edge 2010)