April is Alcohol Awareness Month and a new study on underage drinking shows that Georgia has one of the lowest rates of underage drinking in the country, coming in just below Florida at number 11.

The study, based on government survey data, looks at the percentage of people ages 12-20 who drank or binge drank (4+ drinks in one sitting) within the last 30 days.

• In Georgia, 13.8 percent of respondents said they drank alcohol and 7.2 percent said they binge drank.
• The 5 places with the highest rate of binge drinking were: MA (19.5%), ND (17.3%), VT (17.1%), RI (14.91%), and Washington, D.C. (14.9%).
• The 5 states with the lowest rate of binge drinking were: MS (6.5%), UT (6.9%), GA (7.2%), AR (7.9%), OK (8.0%).

Overall, the study found that a significant portion of young people in the United States drink alcohol and often binge drink. The degree to how much this occurs varies significantly based on location, but every state has thousands of underage individuals drinking alcohol and even binge drinking every day and every month. Underage binge drinking is a national problem and it can lead to further health complications, as well as alcohol dependency and addiction.

More information can be found here.