Why does Kittitas County need a Campus – Community Coalition?
According to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey for Kittitas County, nearly 52% of Kittitas County youth ages 18-24 reported binge drinking in 2001. In 2002, nearly 18% of 12th graders reported having been drunk at high school during the past year. From 1990 to 1999, there was a 33% increase in the number of alcohol-related hospitalizations in the county. In 2003, 29.3 per 1,000 Kittitas County adults (aged 18 and older) were arrested for alcohol-related crimes – nearly three times more than the statewide number of 11.8 per 1,000 statewide. Additionally, 6.31 per 1,000 county children aged 10-14 were arrested for alcohol or drug related violations, compared with 3.07 per 1000 statewide. Nearly 12 per 100 deaths in the county were alcohol or drug-related. Although the proportion of underage drinkers has not changed significantly over the past decade, the County is finding that children are starting to drink at a younger age and drinking patterns are becoming more extreme In
