A highly regarded university center is challenging a key finding from the government's ongoing drug abuse survey, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
According to SAMHSA, teenagers consume 11.4% of all alcohol served in the United States. But in a report that garnered extensive national news coverage, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, New York City, reported that teenagers consume 25% of the nation's alcoholic beverages.
In a statement, the Columbia center acknowledged that the original SAMHSA data reflected the lower figure. In its Teen Tipplers report, the center drew on raw data from the SAMHSA study, which oversamples teenage heavy drinkers. But instead of adjusting the data to reflect the actual teen population, the center relied on the data from heavy-drinking teens.
The misreported figure was featured prominently by CNN, the Associated Press, the New York Times. . . [Full Text of this Article]
