Here's to beginnings

Over the next weeks, many students will be graduating from high school or college and heading on to a new phase of their lives. Before them lie wonderful possibilities, new experiences and great opportunities for full and rich lives. Let's do all we can to ensure that they get there safely.

That means reinforcing the brutal facts about substance abuse, including the indiscriminate use of alcohol. Statistics show that young people who drink are 50 times more likely to use other drugs and that alcohol kills six and a half times more young people than all other illicit drugs combined. Traffic crashes are the greatest single cause of death for young people, and approximately 45 percent of these fatalities are alcohol-related crashes. Even more frightening is the study that shows that 65 percent of young people surveyed by the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information said that they got the alcohol they drink from family and friends.

These are frightening statistics that become even more serious when you consider that over the next month hundreds of thousands of young people will be out celebrating graduations and at parties at which alcohol will be served. The scene is set but the final act has not been written. Make sure your children and grandchildren understand the consequences of drinking and driving. Make them understand that they are more likely to have a fatal or serious accident when drinking and give them the tools they need to deal with these situations. Promote designated drivers and alcohol free parties. Make sure they understand that they can call home, without facing judgment, when the only safe ride home is in your car. Commencement should be a beginning, not an end.

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