The truth about alcohol

A lot of parents would be surprised to know that their children could be causing themselves permanent brain damage if they consume alcohol. The old jokes about "killing brain cells" should be revised to include killing parts of the frontal lobe and hippocampus, two parts of the brain that control decision-making, complex thinking, impulse control, learning and memory. And it's no laughing matter.

In teens, those parts of the brain are still under construction. That makes alcohol particularly dangerous for them, and it's a good reason why society doesn't let anyone under the age of 21 drink legally.

It's also a good reason why state lawmakers this year should include $2.1 million in the budget for programs that would initiate a media campaign to inform parents of drinking's dangers and provide better training for employees who sell alcohol and better enforcement for officials whose job it is to guard against sales to minors.

The money would come from funds already collected through the state beer tax. It would only change the formula so that less of that money ends up in the general fund for unspecified purposes.

For some reason, alcohol consumption seems to have missed out on the scrutiny applied to cigarettes and controlled substances during the past 40 years or so. Parents are aware of many reasons why their children should not smoke, and they are equally concerned about their children using everything from marijuana to ecstacy and other club drugs. But often they react with a false sense of relief when they discover their children are drinking alcohol, as if they are glad that at least their kids aren't doing those other things.

Officials at the state Alcoholic Beverage Control commission, as well as in private organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, know better. In addition to the damage drinking causes to young brains, it becomes habit-forming quickly among young people. Studies show that 40 percent of children who begin drinking before age 15 will become alcoholics. That's much higher than the alcoholism rate among people who begin drinking after age 21.

Once a child is addicted to alcohol, other behavioral problems follow quickly, and often these end up costing society dearly in terms of law-enforcement, social services and incarceration.

In a year when money is plentiful, lawmakers should make sure a campaign that spreads this word and increases enforcement gets into the final budget.