Teenage Drinking Tied to Lifelong Alcohol Woes

Teenage Drinking Tied to Lifelong Alcohol Woes

People who begin to drink alcohol before the age of 14 years are not only more likely to become alcoholics than those who stay away from alcohol until they’re 21; they also develop dependence on alcohol faster, and face a longer struggle with alcohol throughout their lives, a new study shows. “It’s not to say that people don’t get over this, but...they’re at greater lifelong risk, particularly if they develop dependence so rapidly that they have it this early in life,” the study’s lead author, Dr. Ralph W. Hingson of Boston University School of Public Health’s Youth Alcohol Prevention Center, told Reuters Health.

--MSNBC

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