The report, released by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, compared substance abuse statistics from their latest survey, in 2004, with statistics collected in 2002. It was based on interviews of more than 135,000 people. Nationwide, the rate of underaged drinking remained basically unchanged, but in California, it rose from 15.28 percent of California children between 12 and 17-years-old who said they had consumed alcohol in the previous month in 2002, to 16.81 percent who said they had in 2004. Binge drinking, defined as drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion (i.e., at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other) on at least one day in the past 30 days, was reported by 10.27 percent of kids in 2004, up from the 9.16 percent who said they binged in 2002.
People are likely to start smoking tobacco when young.