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This evening, Oklahoma youth will join in a national discussion about the deadly consequences of alcohol abuse and the growing problem of underage drinking.

The local forum is organized and sponsored by the League of United Latin American Citizens Youth Council, with support from the Oklahoma City-based Eagle Ridge Institute.

It coincides with a national campaign made up of about 350 youth councils around the nation, which are convening to discuss the same topic at the same time.

The purpose is to provide education and possible solutions to the problem.

"We are pushing this statewide and nationwide,” said Rey Madrid, an Oklahoma coordinator with the youth council. "Our focus is underaged drinking, creating ordinances in the community so we can fight it. We lose too many of our youth due to underaged drinking.”

The community forum titled "Take It Back” will be at the Santa Fe Middle School Gymnasium in the 4700 block of S Santa Fe Avenue, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Forum sponsors say each day more than 5,400 U.S. kids under the age of 16 take their first drink, more than 97,000 people between the ages of 18 and 24 are victimized by alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape each year, and, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, alcohol reportedly kills more youth than all illegal drugs.

"This event is put on by the youth and it's for the youth,” said Phrakhoun Saynyarack, a prevention expert at Eagle Ridge Institute. "It will feature a panel discussion and the audience will have a chance to discuss and share their thoughts and feelings.”

Forum organizers say they are targeting alcohol because it affects youth at various levels.

"Alcohol really does affect the teenage brain differently. It doesn't hit them until there's way too much alcohol in their system,” Saynyarack said. "From the legal standpoint it is illegal, and from the development angle, the younger you start drinking the higher chance you will become addicted.”

Nationally, American Medical Association research indicates that more than 11 million American youth under 21 drink alcohol, with nearly half of those youth drinking to excess — defined as having five or more drinks in a row.

In Oklahoma, youth drinking has been the buzz word for the last few years, according to Madrid, who added the momentum really began with the passage of the Oklahoma Youth Alcohol Law in 2006.

It increased penalties for people providing alcohol to under-age drinkers and youth in possession of alcohol.