Academic achievement declines as the regularity and intensity of alcohol and other drug use increases. A study of college students found that decreased thinking and reasoning performance on various tests was associated with increased quantity of alcohol per drinking occasion and total lifetime consumption. Early use of alcohol is associated with greater involvement in other drug use and with more frequent use of alcohol. There is a strong association between the use of alcohol and the use of marijuana. The extent of marijuana use rises with increases in drinking levels by youth.
Teenagers walk the same road from the first drink to alcoholism in three to six months.
Regular drinking causes kids to give up sports, hobbies, and later, productive work at school- resulting in guilt and a declining sense of self worth. The use of alcohol suppresses inhibitions and judgements, permitting young people to cross the line of sexual involvement at younger and younger ages. Forty-seven percent of teenagers surveyed in 1982 were intoxicated the first time they engaged in sexual intercourse. Teenage drinking is against the law It is illegal in New York for anyone under 21 years of age to purchase, possess, consume, or transport alcohol.