Naomi L. Hubbard

The Camden County Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse, Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization in partnership with other local and county individuals and organizations. Our Mission is to promote awareness of alcohol, drugs and tobacco and to encourage early intervention and knowledge of the availability of treatment throughout Camden County. We seek to:

Prevent: the disease of alcoholism, drug abuse and related problems

Educate: the public that alcoholism, drug abuse and related problems are treatable and preventable

Encourage: early identification, intervention, treatment and continuum of care for alcoholism, drug abuse and related problems

Published on April 19, 2009

Did you know that April is Alcohol Awareness Month? At our recent annual breakfast marking this event, we invited each municipality and borough in Camden County to sign a proclamation recognizing this awareness campaign.

Despite laws in every State that make it illegal for anyone under age 21 to purchase alcohol, young people report that alcohol is easy to obtain and that many high school and college students drink with one goal – to get drunk. Binge – drinking is defined as “consuming five or more drinks in a row for boys and four or more in a row for girls”. How much do you know about binge drinking?

Binge-drinking, often beginning around age 13, tends to increase during adolescence, peaks in young adulthood (ages 18 to 22), and then gradually decreases.
About 10.4 million adolescents ages 12-20 reported using alcohol. Of those 5.1 million were binge-drinkers and included 2.3 million heavy drinkers who binged at least five times a month.
Nearly 9 percent of boys and 7 percent of girls ages 12-17 reported binge-drinking in the previous month.
Binge-drinking during high school, especially among males, is strongly predictive of binge- drinking in college.
Students who live in a fraternity or sorority house are the heaviest drinkers. 86 percent of fraternity residents and 80 percent of sororityresidents report binge drinking.
Frequent binge-drinkers were eight times more likely than non-binge-drinkers to miss a class, fall behind in schoolwork, get hurt or injured, and damage property.
Nearly one out of every five teenagers (16 percent) has experienced “black out” spells where they could not remember what happened the previous evening because of heavy or binge-drinking.
More than 60 percent of college men and almost 50 percent of college women who are frequent binge-drinkers report that they drink and drive.

We invite you to partner with us in a diligent effort to set a good example for our youth by modeling responsible behavior and setting clear guidelines for a “no use” rule for your children under the age of twenty-one. If you would like more information on binge-drinking, please feel free to visit our Resource Center at the Ashland Office Center on 1 Alpha Avenue, Suite 22 in Voorhees.