National Government Research Shows Alcohol Responsibility Progress

For nearly 30 years, Anheuser-Busch has been the industry leader in promoting responsible drinking initiatives and building partnerships with elected officials, educators, law enforcement and parents to help prevent underage drinking and drunk driving. Two recent national government surveys continue to show that together we are making significant progress on both fronts. This week, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) announced results of the 2011 Monitoring the Future Survey, showing alcohol use among teens is at an all-time low. Since this government survey began monitoring 12th graders in 1975, past month drinking has declined 41 percent. Additionally, the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that drunk-driving fatalities fell to their lowest level since alcohol record-keeping began in 1982 (52 percent decline from 1982 to 2010). In 2010 alone, drunk-driving deaths dropped nearly five percent from the previous year. These government studies are encouraging and tell us that programs like Family Talk About Drinking (www.facebook.com/ABFamilyTalk), We I.D., Good Sport and the Budweiser Designated Driver advertising are helping to make a difference, but our work is never done. One drunk driver is one too many and we don't want anyone under the legal drinking age consuming our products. After all, these are our kids and our roads. And we all have a collective responsibility to keep them safe.