The relationship between teen alcohol use and adult alcohol addiction is subject to heated debate. Some analysts claim that there is a direct correlation between teen alcohol use and adult alcoholism; thus they suggest that teen alcohol policies should emphasize abstinence. Others maintain that alcohol addiction is the result of multiple factors, not just teenage drinking. They claim that teen alcohol use is a normal part of adolescent culture and disagree with abstinence policies.

A 1998 study conducted by Bridget F. Grant and Deborah A. Dawson of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) revealed that young people who begin drinking before age fifteen are four times more likely to become addicted to alcohol as adults. Organizations and activists nationwide began to use such statistics to promote abstinence. A good example is prevention specialist Kay Provine, of the Hazeldon Foundation, a...