Maine’s attorney general, Steven Rowe, says parents and other adults too often fail to protect underage children from the effects of drinking alcohol. Especially during the holidays, he said in a prepared statement Monday, “it is critically important for adults to realize that providing alcohol to minors is illegal and can have tragic consequences.”

In recognition of National Alcohol Awareness Day on Monday, Rowe’s office released two public service announcements to radio stations across the state, which will air them throughout December.

One announcement reminds adults that providing alcohol to young people under age 21 violates Maine law and sends the message that it’s OK to disregard some laws. The other details the physical harm that can result from drinking at an early age, including addiction and irreversible brain damage.

Alcohol is abused more than any other drug in Maine, and costs the state more than $260 million a year in substance abuse treatment, lost productivity, illness, injury and death. Alcohol-related traffic accidents are a leading cause of death among Maine teens and young adults. Alcohol is also present in many other fatalities, including drownings, fires, suicides and falls. Drinking can affect emotional responses and judgment and is a frequent factor in assaults, rapes, murders and other crimes.

The average Maine child drinks alcohol for the first time at age 13. Forty percent of Maine eighth-graders report having experimented at least once with drinking, and about 20 percent say they’d had two or more drinks in a row within the last 30 days. Almost 10 percent say they’ve had at least five drinks in a row on at least one occasion within the last two weeks.

By 12th grade, 80 percent of students say they’ve tried alcohol, 50 percent report drinking within the last month, and 30 percent say they’ve binged within the last two weeks.

These statistics, taken from the 2002 Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey, belie what most Maine parents believe about their children’s familiarity with alcohol. In a phone survey of parents of teens in 2002, almost 98 percent said their child had not been drinking at all in the month before the survey, and 83 percent said their child had never had more than a few sips of alcohol. Ninety percent said they would know if their child had been drinking.

Rowe said he hopes the public service announcements will raise awareness of the problem of underage drinking and make adults think twice before they provide alcohol to minors, even at supervised holiday parties.

Find out more about teen alcohol use in Maine at www.maineparents.net.