About 5,000 young adults and adolescents under the age of 21 die each year as a result of underage drinking. Approximately 1,900 deaths are vehicular accidents, 1,600 from murders, 300 suicides, and death as a result of accidents like accidental drownings and burns range in the hundreds. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking.

Teens who drink heavily are 3 times more likely to hurt themselves (self-harm, attempted suicide) than those in their grade who do not drink.

Using drugs and alcohol in your teens makes increase your risk of developing a substance abuse problem later in life. Those who use alcohol for the first time before the age of 15 are 7 times more likely to become problem drinkers than those who don’t start before the age of 21. This is because the developing brain, which fully develops around age 23, is much more susceptible to addiction. SAMHSA “National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings.”

One study found that teens exposed to the greatest amount of smoking in movies were 2.6 times more likely to start smoking themselves compared with teens who watched the least amount of smoking in movies. American Lung Association.