The brain goes through dynamic change during adolescence, and alcohol can seriously damage long- and short-term growth processes.  Frontal lobe development and the refinement of pathways and connections continue into the middle 20’s.  Damage from alcohol at this time can be long-term and irreversible.[1]  In addition, short-term or moderate drinking impairs learning and memory far more in youth than in adults.  Adolescents need only drink half as much to suffer the same negative effects.[2]

• The brain continues to undergo a tremendous amount of development through adolescence and into young adulthood.[3]
• Alcohol impacts both behavior and brain function differently in adolescents and adults. [4]
• Adolescents are more vulnerable than adults to the effects of alcohol on learning and memory.[5]
• Alcohol affects the sleep cycle, resulting in impaired learning and memory as well as disrupted release of hormones necessary for growth and maturation.[6]
• Alcohol affects all parts of the brain, which also affects coordination, emotional control, thinking, decision-making, hand-eye movement, speech, and memory.[7]
•   Adolescent drinkers perform worse in school, are more likely to fall behind and have an increased risk of social problems, depression, suicidal thoughts and violence.[8]
• Binge drinking is extremely dangerous for adolescents given that their brain is especially vulnerable to alcohol-related damage.[9]
• People who begin drinking in their early teens are not only at greater risk for developing alcoholism sometime in their lives, they are also at greater risk for developing alcoholism more quickly and at younger ages, especially chronic, relapsing alcoholism[10].