New beverages, including Mike's Hard Lemonade, Rick's Spiked Lemonade, Doc Otis' Hard Lemonade, Jed's Hard Lemonade, Tequiza, Sublime, and Hooper's Hooch, come in hip, bright, and colorful youth-oriented packaging. Alcopops' are gateway drugs that ease young people into drinking and pave the way to more traditional alcoholic beverages. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, young people who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times as likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who wait until age 21 to start. More than 10 million Americans between the ages of 12 and 20 currently drink alcohol.
Alcohol kills many more teenagers than all illicit drugs combined.
The BATF approves every alcoholic-beverage label. Inc. It included telephone interviews with 600 teenagers 14 to 18 years old and 500 adults 21 and over. It led efforts to obtain the warning label on alcoholic beverages and nutrition labels on foods. CSPI is supported largely by the 850,000 U.S. and Canadian subscribers to its Nutrition Action Healthletter and by foundation grants.