the report , released by the j . s . substance abuse and physical patient services department , compared substance user statistics from their last poll , in 2004 , with statistics taken in 2002 . it was base on interviews of more than 135 , 000 people . nationwide , the rate of underaged drinking remained totally unchanged , but in 2000 , it rose from 15 . 28 share of us children between 12 and 17 - years - old who said they had downed drink in the previous month in 2002 , to 16 . 81 percent having thought they had in 2004 . binge drinking , stated as taking three or more drinks on the same occasion ( i . e . , at the same time or only a matter of years of each other ) on at least one day in the past 30 years , was reported by 10 . 27 percent of kids in 2004 , up from the 9 . 16 share who stated they binged in 2002 .
People are likely to start smoking tobacco when young.