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A survey of 11th- and 12th-grade students finds that 90 percent believe that their peers are more likely to drink and drive on prom night, but few think that the behavior carries a high degree of risk, USA Today reported April 9.

The survey of more than 2,500 students, conducted by Liberty Mutual and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), found that 79 percent of students expected their classmates to drink and drive on graduation night. More than one in three students also said their parents had let them attend a party knowing that alcohol would be served.

“Newspapers, television, YouTube and Facebook are rife with tales of tragedy from reckless driving on prom and graduation nights, yet an ‘it won’t happen to me’ attitude continues to be so pervasive among our teens,” said Dave Melton of the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety. “Add to the alcohol factor distractions like texting or talking on the cellphone while driving, or the greater likelihood of multiple people in the car, and the crash potential is very real.”

 
Young Female Drinkers More Likely to Develop Breast Disease, Researchers Say

Risk of developing benign breast disease increases five-fold among women who drank alcohol six or seven days a week during their teens and early 20s, according to research from the National Cancer Institute.

Benign breast disease is a known risk factor for breast cancer, researchers noted. Symptoms include hard lumps in the breasts, irregular cysts, breast discomfort, sensitive nipples, and itching.

Reuters reported April 12 that researcher Catherine Berkey of Harvard Medical School and colleagues drew their conclusions from a study of about 6,900 women ages 16-23. About one percent of the women reported having benign breast disease in a followup study at ages 18-27.

“Our study results give older girls and adolescents another reason to avoid alcohol,” said Berkey.

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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (Orange County)