SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 19

(By Senators Prezioso, Unger, Bowman, Hunter, McCabe, Caldwell, Rowe, Edgell, Weeks, White, Jenkins, Bailey, Helmick, Kessler, Ross, Dempsey, Sharpe, Love and Fanning)


Requesting the Department of Health and Human Resources, in cooperation with the Department of Education, the Attorney General, the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety and the Department of Transportation, study the problem of teenage in-vehicle drinking and related drug use.

Whereas, Teenagers, with ready access to motor vehicles, have become increasingly mobile which adds a fluid dynamic to the manner in which they consume alcohol and illicit drugs. Alcohol and drug abuse by teenagers has not significantly declined in the past several years and it remains unacceptably high; and

Whereas, In 1998, 1,695 15- to 19-year-olds were killed in alcohol-related traffic accidents across America; and

Whereas, The Aluminum Anonymous Project surveyed 775 miles of West Virginia roadsides for the discard rate of alcoholic beverage containers in September, 1997, November, 1998, and April, 2000, and determined an average of 800 beer cans-bottles were discarded per mile of road annually. Professionals working with teens and adults in alcohol and drug settings estimated that 50 percent of the discarded alcohol containers were coming from teenagers; and

Whereas, A report from the National Center on Substance Abuse and Addiction in January, 2001, states that only 2 percent of the $339 million total that West Virginia spends annually on substance abuse problems goes to prevention and treatment, while the remaining 98 percent goes to cleaning up the effects of substance abuse and addiction; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Legislature hereby requests the Department of Health and Human Resources, in cooperation with the Department of Education, the Attorney General, the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety and the Department of Transportation, study the problem of teenage in-vehicle drinking and related drug use by: (a) Assembling what is known and not known about this behavior and its dynamics, prevalence and incidence; and (b) assessing the effectiveness of policies and programs, including development, implementation and evaluation, and gauging the adequacy of interagency cooperation, including data-sharing and program reporting; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Department of Health and Human Resources report to the regular session of the Legislature, 2004, on its findings, conclusions and recommendations, together with drafts of any legislation necessary to effect its recommendations.