Underage Alcohol Usage: Soaking Gummy Bears In Alcohol Is Newest Trend For Teens

One of the scariest things about raising teens is the possibility that they might be influenced to drink. You can warn them of the dangers and consequences until you’re blue in the face, but sometimes, peer pressure gets the best of them. The American Academy of Pediatrics found that more than four million adolescents drink alcohol in any month.

And what’s more frightening, is how clever they’ve become about hiding the act from parents. Once upon a time, teens stole alcohol from their parents, so keeping a close watch on your own liquor cabinet was a fine way to curb the problem. But today, their creativity puts the old trick of refilling bottles with Sprite to shame. And the latest trend in undercover drinking is especially savvy – especially around Halloween time.

Teens are using gummy candy (bears and worms to be exact) to get drunk. They soak the candy in alcohol, Keloland.com reports.

Darcy Jensen from Prairie View Prevention Services in South Dakota works with school districts to prevent teen drinking as part of the “Parents Matter” campaign. She sent out a warning to schools last week to warn them about the trend. It’s important for parents to be aware so that they can spot if their teen has tried it, she says.

"Maybe someone has offered the candy and they didn't even know. So telling the kids ahead of time this could be something to be aware of is important," Jensen said.

And though it’s hard to see the positive side of teens becoming sneakier when it comes to something as dangerous as underage drinking, a trend like this can be used to open communication on the topic.

"It's a good conversation starter to talk about the whole issue of alcohol and underage drinking and the hazards," Jensen said.

Comments

[amanda can]

01:43 PM on 11/15/2011

I'm no longer a teen, and thankfully not a parent, so all this article did was give me recipe ideas. Picking up gummi bears & a bottle of Ciroc after work. Thanks HuffPo!

[Nate35]

12:45 PM on 10/26/2011

Really, you only just caught on to rummy bears? My friends tried this once, it just ended up as a big gooey mess that didn't get you very drunk. I started doing shots rather than deal with sticky, multicolored hands.

[Johnny Pemberton]

02:29 AM on 10/26/2011

the first sentence of this article is enough to call bullshit on the whole thing. move the drinking age back to a reasonable age like 18 or 17 and you wouldn't have to deal with this bullshit.

[Susann Morgan]

07:48 PM on 10/18/2011

When I was younger, kids would use diabetic syringes to inject alcohol into oranges and fill hair spray bottles with booze, among other things. There will never be a lack of imagination and innovation when a teen wants to do something "forbidden".

[Christine Chew]

03:57 PM on 10/18/2011

"One of the scariest things about raising teens is the possibility that they might be influenced to drink." Really? I don't have a teen, but I am not so far removed from my own teens to know that there are a lot of scarier things about raising a teen. Sure, if you take it too far, underage drinking can destroy a kids' life. But if your kid is influenced to drink, you as the parent handle it. It's the other kids and the other adults out in the world that my parents worried about, the stuff outside of their purview.

Anyway, now that I am done with my rant, I think I might run out for some gummy bears and vodka.

[RocheTm]

05:02 AM on 10/18/2011

There is so much st upi d in this "it comes to something as dangerous as underage drinking," that I really am not sure what to say.

[RocheTm]

05:04 AM on 10/18/2011

I also saw girls doing this in my very rural town over 10 years ago.

[Redhunteur]

04:06 AM on 10/14/2011

Booze + Gummy Bears = Diabetes Epidemic!

[randinoel]

01:58 AM on 10/14/2011

a shot of vodka can suck up a gummy bear pretty much. this is not new, this is pretty old. its called "gummy bear" shots.

[Natedc]

02:47 AM on 10/14/2011

It's old people, they think the gummy bear is something you can carry around in your pocket. They don't realize when done it's basically sugar and alcohol gravy. This is the price we pay for poor science education.

[psychicanchor]

12:04 AM on 10/14/2011

its awesome how whenever a story like this is posted, it potentially gives the idea to bunch of kids who didnt know about it yet. good on ya hp.

[mommy2one]

01:34 PM on 10/18/2011

I'm definitely going to try this! I had no idea they existed until these articles started coming out in the media. I'm 26 though so I'm allowed ;)

[Kim Moore2011]

09:33 PM on 10/13/2011

Bad A** Kids!

[Kim Moore2011]

09:32 PM on 10/13/2011

Bad Ass Kids!

[kemarie21]

09:25 PM on 10/13/2011

That is so funny! Yeah teens shouldn't drink but really how much do they really get out of the candy? If they want to get drunk off of it you'd probably notice by the amount they are eating. Plus really, you can't smell it? When I was growing up I saw what alcohol did to people, turns them into idiots. So that helped me stay away. But my family had the alcohol where we could find it and would allow us some every once in awhile. So the thrill of drinking never really was there for me and my sisters. When I have my own family I'll let them have the chance to have a drink but not much. Make it a mystery and kids are going to want to try it. We never cared about it and when we turned 21 we never card much about it then either.

[RocheTm]

05:12 AM on 10/18/2011

My family and most of my friends families where the same way.

When I went to college 2 of my 3 roommates had families like mine. The one who didn't had an over religious family and he nearly killed himself drinking to much.

[Cindy Noel]

07:54 PM on 10/13/2011

its not like its 45% alcohal or something this is probably something like juice but with a lilttle kick to it :P

[Chris Lowery]

07:20 PM on 10/13/2011

Hello, parents. If you don't want you're kids to drink, don't give them a reason to. Stop fighting and get counseling, or stop trying to be perfect, your kid knows you're not, and don't even expect you to be, just be honest, and practice what you preach, because they have eyes,ears and a mind, just like you. And for goodness sake, don't drink yourself. A liquor bar? In your home? With kids around? Have you lost your mind? It's like we loose common sense when we get older or something. These and lots of advice from professionals would surely curb such issues, but are we brave enough to face them? Well do we want to be better parents, or do we want the kids to do everything? Food for thought, peace.

[Adam Dray]

06:19 PM on 10/13/2011

Well sure underage drinking is bad but HA never gonna stop it! In a way its natural selection. The dumb ones will get drunk and drive and kill themselves, hopefully avoiding anyone else in the process (sadly not always the case) but should we REALLY feel 'sorry' for these stupid teens? 'They had soo much hope!' yeah until they got tanked, and drove a car drunker than corrupted judge. "They had such a long life ahead of them and were gonna do such great things!'.....until their alcholism kicked in full gear (mid 20's) and become another degenerate drinking and sapping off the public to get their 'fix' and thats assuming they dont turn to other drugs. MY POINT BEING.......where can I get a bag of those gummy bears?