Alcohol and Drug Combinations Are More Likely to Have a Serious Outcome Than Alcohol Alone in Emergency Department Visits Involving Underage Drinking

This report from SAMHSA shows that underage drinkers (PDF, 1 page), ages 12‑20, who were treated in hospital emergency departments were more than twice as likely to wind up with a serious health outcome if they also used drugs at the same time. The report shows that of the hospital emergency department visits involving underage drinkers which resulted in serious health outcomes, 12 percent involved underage drinking alone, and 33 percent involved both underage drinking and concurrent drug use.