A survey carried out in the capital shows that the average age of initiation into drinking has lowered to 13.5 years when the minimum permissible drinking age is 25. It also reveals that at least 70 per cent men and 40 per cent women admitted to drunken driving.
Nearly 67 per cent of the respondents in the age group of 15-19 said that alcohol was a part of every celebration from birthday parties to night outs at a friend’s place.
The survey also revealed that at least 43.2 per cent of men and 37.3 per cent of women in the age group of 15-24 years had their first drink before 15 years.
Prince Singhal, founder of Community Against Drun-ken Driving, said that these youth did not feel that alcohol hampered their driving skills. Moreover, 67.1 per cent of men and 54.4 per cent of women below the age of 35 also use other substances and party drugs while drinking.
The practice of binge drinking was found to be very high coupled with the fact that alcohol was easily available at every nook and cranny.
Even the expenditure on alcohol seems to be going up with more than 64.9 per cent of men and 65.5 per cent of women admitting to spending more than `1,000 per week on alcohol.