A new report suggests that there has been significant decrease in the underage alcohol consumption in the last decade, and binge drinking has gone down amongst minors.

It is very tough to determine the cause and effect in such matters but many preventive measure taken by government, schools and other public service organization has adopted appears to be having an impact.

The report indicates that the percentage of people between 12 to 20 years of age who drink has come down to 28.8 percent to 22.7 percent from the year 2001 to 2013, and the one who binge drinks has dropped from 19.3 percent to 14.2 percent.

The report suggests that there is no need for states to lower their legal age of drinking to 18 as several college and university chancellors and presidents have insisted via a letter in 2008 to cut down on underage and binge drinking. That would be clearing off the responsibility of educational leaders for implementing effective solutions regarding alcohol related issues facing their schools when the last weeks report signifies that the responsibility is the key ingredients of getting the job completed.

There could be many factors which could have stimulated drop in underage drinking, apart from the much stronger enforcement of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act enacted in 1984, the increase in price and taxes on alcohol beverages such as beer, wine and liquor have lowered the availability of alcohol for minors. The way alcohol is perceived by youth has also changed over the decade.

Students are aware of the consequences of excessive drinking like the lead dangers of DUI and alcohol poisoning and that is mostly due to as campaigns and educational seminars which stresses on these matters. The link between alcohol consumption and sexual assault has also been acknowledged by students.

According to the University of Michigan’s yearly Monitoring the Future study, since 2000, minors have reported an increased perceived risk and disapproval rates of underage drinking and drunkenness, similar to how heavy drinking itself had dropped down.

This is surprising turn of events since underage drinking is still widespread. Alcohol is still the most common source of mind altering substance used by people illegally and the current numbers on binge drinking are barely promising a great fortune, as lot of teenagers are still at risk. A lot of efforts are still needed for progress in order to overcome the issue.