--- title: U.S.: Underage Drinking and Binge-Drinking Rates Are Falling description: Alcohol remains the favorite drug for people under the age of 20 canonical: https://time.com/3917451/drinking-decline-us/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-11T11:45:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:07:00.301Z article:section: Health og:title: Underage Drinking and Binge-Drinking Rates Are Falling og:description: Alcohol remains the favorite drug for people under the age of 20 og:url: https://time.com/3917451/drinking-decline-us/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4405f4fcd461cd96/6987ed3b8e06019d8745e58d/red-solo-cups.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5616 og:image:height: 3159 og:image:alt: Red Solo Cups og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Underage Drinking and Binge-Drinking Rates Are Falling twitter:description: Alcohol remains the favorite drug for people under the age of 20 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4405f4fcd461cd96/6987ed3b8e06019d8745e58d/red-solo-cups.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Underage Drinking and Binge-Drinking Rates Are Falling in the U.S. > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=88513f77-d58d-47e9-be6f-8f302e4b541f&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1)  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jun 11, 2015 11:45 AM UTC  red cups red cups Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jun 11, 2015 11:45 AM UTC Underage drinking and binge-drinking rates in the United States are falling. According to a new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the percentage of underage people who drink fell 6.1% between 2002 and 2013, from 28.8% to 22.7%. The study defined underage as 12 to 20 years old, [reports the Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/alcohol-use-binge-drinking-continues-to-fall-among-underage-report-finds/2015/06/10/dbdc8b4c-0f79-11e5-a0dc-2b6f404ff5cf%5Fstory.html). The percentage of people who binge drink, defined as consuming five or more alcoholic drinks during one occasion, decreased from 19.3% to 14.2%, [according to USA Today](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/06/11/underage-binge-drinking/71021464/). “While we’re always very happy about these declines, we can’t lose sight of the fact that we have approximately 9 million underage drinkers in the country,” Rich Lucey, special assistant to the director at SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse, told _USA Today_. Despite the decline, which may have been brought about by stricter ID laws and a crackdown on drinking and driving, alcohol is still the most common drug used by minors. 22.7% of those surveyed said they drink, while 16.9% reported using tobacco and 13.6% use illegal drugs. 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