Alabama Targets Underage Drinking

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The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has launched an initiative to stop underage and binge drinking in the state.

ABC Board members and law enforcement officials addressed students at Prattville High School recently to introduce the program. During the meeting, more than half of the 1,000 students promised to not use alcoholic beverages. They were also given accounts of young people who have died in alcohol-related accidents and the impact the accidents had on their families.

Under current state laws it is illegal for those under the age of 21 to consume or possess alcoholic beverages. It’s also against the law for an adult to provide alcohol to those under the legal drinking age.

“Underage drinking and binge drinking remain big problems in Alabama and the nation, taking or ruining many lives every year,” said ABC Board Administrator Mac Gipson. “The ABC Board wants students and parents to understand both the legal and social costs of such irresponsible drinking.”

Bryan Davis with the Prattville Police said officials believe that of the 1,000 students in the room, about 250 have had a drink in the last 50 days.