According to new research in the U.S. the underage drinking market is making the alcohol industry a neat $23 billion a year and that figure represents 17.5 percent of all money spent on alcohol in the U.S. annually.
The new study, the 'Commercial Value of Underage Drinking and Adult Abusive and Dependent Drinking to the Alcohol Industry', was conducted by researchers at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.
The researchers say abusive drinking by both underage people and adults accounted for $25.8 billion a year which is almost half of all money spent on alcohol yearly.
CASA says this indicates a conflict of interest for the alcohol industry between profitability and the public health.
CASA's chairman and president, and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Joseph A. Califano, Jr., says underage and pathological drinkers are the alcohol industry's most valuable customers and spend at least $48 billion in beer, wine and liquor each year or 37.5 percent of the total.
Califano believes self regulation by the alcohol industry is a delusion and it is reckless for society to rely on an industry with such an enormous financial interest in alcohol consumption by children, teens, alcoholics and alcohol abusers to curb such drinking.
Using information garnered from four national studies, CASA were able to to estimate the value to the alcohol industry of underage drinking, as well as the value of abusive and dependent drinking.
The study included a total of 260,580 people aged 12 and older and found that over 25% of underage drinkers met the standard criteria for alcohol abuse and dependence, compared to 9.6% of those 21 and older.