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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Nava

DATE TYPED 3/7/2005 HB

SHORT TITLE Combat Underage Drinking in New Mexico

SB SM 13

ANALYST Dunbar

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

Minimal

Minimal Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

NM Public Education Department (NMPED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Memorial 13 requests the Public Education Department (PED), the Children, Youth and

Families Department (CYFD), and the Department of Health (DOH) to participate in campaigns

to increase the awareness of the problem of underage drinking in New Mexico. The memorial

directs the departments to join the efforts of Southern New Mexico Human Development, Inc.,

the Rural Organizational Project Entity Coalition, the Environmental Youth Coalition and other

organizations around the state to address underage drinking and develop successful prevention

and intervention strategies. Copies of the memorial will be transmitted to PED, CYFD, and

DOH.

Significant Issues

PED notes that school districts receive Title IV Safe and Drug Free Schools federal funding that

can be utilized to provide evidence-based DWI curriculum. Mothers Against Drunk Driving cur-

rently has a grant to provide an evidence-based curriculum on DWI awareness in Albuquerque

Public Schools.

Senate Memorial 13 Page 2

The DOH and PED already work together on a number of alcohol-related issues. The depart-

ments collaborate to administer the Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS), the most impor-

tant source of information concerning youth drinking behaviors. The DOH Office of School

Health and PED’s School and Families Support Bureau have many shared initiatives. In addi-

tion, DOH supports county health councils, many of which have youth drinking initiatives.

Efforts currently exist which are monitored by state entities such as the Department of

Health/Behavioral Health Services Division (Evidence-based Prevention Programming), Public

Education Department (Safe and Drug-Free Schools), Department of Finance (DWI program)

and Children, Youth and Families (underage drinking initiative).

The New Mexico Department of Health/Behavioral Health Services Division is the Single State

Authority on Substance Abuse Prevention, including underage drinking and currently has initia-

tive in place to coordinate efforts at state, regional and local level.

According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA):

•

In 2003, 17,013 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes - an average of one almost

every half hour. These deaths constituted approximately 40% of the 42,642 total traffic fatali-

ties.

•

In 2003, there were a total of 439 traffic deaths in New Mexico, with 198 or 45% alcohol re-

lated.

•

In New Mexico, 41.4% of high school students reported in the Youth Risk and Resiliency

Survey that they had their first drink of alcohol at age 13 or younger and half of the students

reported having at least one drink of alcohol in the previous month.

•

65% of 8th-graders and 84% of 10th-graders believe that alcohol is readily available to them

for consumption.

•

Almost 20% of 8th-graders and 42% of 10th-graders have been drunk at least once.

•

The annual employer cost of motor vehicle crashes, in which at least one driver was impaired

by alcohol, exceeds $9 billion.

•

In 2000, alcohol-related crashes accounted for an estimated 18% of the $103 billion in U.S.

auto insurance payments. Reducing alcohol-related crashes by 10% would save $1.8 billion

in claims payments and loss adjustment expenses.

•

In 2000, the average alcohol-related fatality in the U.S. cost $3.5 million. The estimated cost

per injured survivor was $99,000.

•

In 2000, the societal costs of alcohol-related crashes in the U.S. averaged $1.00 per drink

consumed. People other than the drinking driver paid $0.60 per drink.

•

Alcohol-related crashes in the U.S. cost the public an estimated $114.3 billion in 2000, in-

cluding $51.1 billion in monetary costs and an estimated $63.2 billion in quality of life

losses. People other than the drinking driver paid $71.6 billion of the alcohol-related crash

bill, which is 63% of the total cost of crashes.

The total cost attributable to the consequences of underage drinking was more than $53 billion

per year in 1998 dollars.

Senate Memorial 13 Page 3

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

PED would be responsible for participating in campaigns that would increase awareness of the

problem of underage drinking in New Mexico and develop successful prevention and interven-

tion strategies. This process takes approximately 160 hours of an Education Administrator – A’s

time @ $25.06 per hour plus benefits, for an estimate of $5.2.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

PED would be required to collaborate with CYFD, DOH and other organizations and coalitions

throughout the state

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The memorial does not specify the expected outcome or result of the proposed collaboration or

awareness campaign. . A lead agency for this memorial was not identified.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

CYFD currently funds the communities of Santa Rosa, Taos, Ruidoso, and Clayton through the

federal Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention, Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws

Rural Communities Initiative. This is a three-year project to evaluate evidence-based program-

ming in rural communities. CYFD also currently manages the federal Enforcing Underage

Drinking Laws Block Grant that funds fourteen projects statewide for law enforcement, and un-

derage drinking prevention and education.

Underage drinking is a serious health issue in New Mexico. According to the 2003 New Mex-

ico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS), 35% of New Mexico high school students re-

ported binge drinking (five or more alcoholic drinks on one occasion), while only 28% of high

school students nationwide reported the same behavior. Fifty-one percent (51%) of New Mexico

high school students reported drinking alcohol within the previous 30 days, and 19% reported

drinking and driving within the previous 30 days.

The National Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) report, Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective

Responsibility 2004, recommended that public and private funders support community mobiliza-

tion to reduce underage drinking. Federal funding for reducing and preventing underage drinking

should be available under a national program dedicated to community-level approaches to reduc-

ing underage drinking, similar to the Drug Free Communities Act, which supports communities

in addressing substance abuse with targeted, evidence-based prevention strategies (Recommen-

dation 11-2, Reducing Underage Drinking, 23.)

The IOM report also recommended that community-driven initiatives be tailored to the specific

problems and resources in a community. Different communities will therefore have different pri-

orities based on their particular needs (Reducing Underage Drinking, 218, Reducing Underage

Drinking: A Collective Responsibility 2004.)

BD/lg