Choose Responsibility

If you’ve visited a college bar on a Friday evening, you may have seen a man drowning his sorrows after being rejected by one of his fellow co-eds. A recent study on fruit flies the University of San Francisco proves that ordering another beer may be more than a social norm.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on the study,

Male fruit flies, rejected in their attempts to mate, turn to alcohol-soaked food, researchers reported today in the journal Science. Scientists think the discovery, along with evidence that the behavior seems to be driven by a small molecule in the brain, may open a window onto the self-destructive actions of alcoholics and drug addicts.

If the brain is triggered to prefer alcohol in tense situations, this is all the more reason why parents and other responsible adults need to have the opportunity to help young people learn how to handle alcohol responsibly.

Later this year, Kansas will may its departure from a group of 24 states that currently prohibit happy hours. The afterwork period famous for discounted drinks was banned in Kansas 26 years ago. In the meantime, bars have found clever ways of circumventing the law, including hosting “happy days” where drinks are served at discounted prices throughout the day instead of only in the evening. Liz Goodwin writes,

[Until the law passes], clever barkeeps will continue adapting to the prohibition on temporary drink discounts by discounting their drinks all day long.

Like MLDA 21, Kansas’s ban on happy hours did not prevent bar patrons from drinking.

Findings from a Canadian study showed that discounted alcohol at happy hours did not significantly alter the amount of alcohol patrons consumed. The Alcoholic Beverage Institute believes that “an outright ban of happy hours is an overreach: in efforts to encourage moderate, responsible drinking. There is also hope that altering this law will prevent Kansas residents from driving to Missouri, where laws are far less strict.

We’ve dedicated several posts in the last month to the tragic death of Yeardley Love and the subsequent trial of George Huguely, and we certainly don’t want to repeat ourselves.

However, a recent Washington Post article entitled “Huguely trial highlights alcohol abuse at colleges, universities” could not go unposted. The article notes that binge drinking is more prevalent on college campuses than ever.

An NIAAA report released in 2009 shows that alcohol-related deaths of people ages 18 to 24 were up 14 percent to 1,825 in 2005, compared with roughly 1,605 in 1998.

Based on this statistic, Huguely’s behavior was extreme, but his drinking was not extraordinary. His conviction sheds light on today’s college  culture and proves that dangerous drinking cannot be ignored any longer.

Cultures can be characterized as either “wet” or “dry”. “Wet” cultures- those of southern Europe, for example- have high per capita consumption of alcohol but few legal restrictions, and fewer drunken driving fatalities. In “wet” cultures, individuals drink frequently but rarely with the intention of becoming intoxicated. “Dry” cultures- those of northern Europe, Scandinavia, and the United States, for example- have low per capita consumption of alcohol. Drinking is infrequent but, when it does occur, it is very heavy. “Dry” cultures have more alcohol related violence and drunken driving fatalities.

The silver screen and the current legal drinking age have something in common. A recent European study claims many popular teenage films celebrate dangerous drinking.

The correlation between binge drinking and teen movies was drawn in a European study based on films released between 2004 and 2009. MedPage Today reports,

Across six European countries with different cultural experiences with alcohol, exposure to drinking in movies was associated with binge drinking in adolescents (P<0.001), according to Reiner Hanewinkel, PhD, of the Institute for Therapy and Health Research in Kiel, Germany, and colleagues.

Choose Responsibility recognizes the importance of developing a culture that supports responsible consumption. These films, like MLDA 21, then promote a culture that does not appreciate alcohol and its responsible use.

We hope all of our readers were left unaffected by the tornadoes that moved through the Southeast yesterday. [CR] sends our thoughts to those who were put in harms way.

As you settle in and enjoy your weekend, be sure to check out these articles pertaining to college drinking.

Colleges are working to curtail binge drinking during spring break, which is often a week where heavy drinking is prevalent. Santa Fe College will host a pre-spring break event to address safe behavior. Read about it here.

Energy drinks and alcohol are popular among college students because of the quick buzz they offer. However, the drinks can be toxic, as reported here.

And finally, Indiana college students help push a Good Samaritan bill through the Indiana state legislature. The bill enables people to call for help in a situation where alcohol is involved (or someone is intoxicated) without the facing criminal charges. Several other states have passed similar bills, which encourage students to make alcohol harm reduction their first priority. Read the full article here.

Have a great rest of your weekend, and stay safe!

Students seeking the perfect buzz now combine energy drinks with alcohol. Combining uppers and downers is a quick way to get drunk, but the combination can prove to be toxic. Oftentimes, these drinks are consumed with only one objective in mind: bingeing. The Sonoma State Star recently published an article on the danger of these “bomb drinks”, which can be found here.

The acceptance of these cocktails reflects a common mindset among college drinking. Instead of enjoying alcohol responsibly, students consume it quickly to snag the quickest buzz. Responsibility doesn’t always ensue.

What have we talked about here at CR in the past month?

Stupid Drunks

Moms for Responsibility

US-Canada Border

Debating the Age at Sonoma State

Responsibility in Pubs

Britain’s New Strategy

A Student’s Perspective on Campus Booze

UVA Trial

College Drinking (again)

College Drinking (one more time)

18-year olds in bars

What do you want to read in March 2012?

Last week’s verdict in the trial of George Huguely, former UVa lacrosse player, brought the dangerous consequences of college binge drinking out from behind the closed doors of smoky bars, fraternity basements, and dorm rooms.

An article entitled “The Case of the ‘Stupid Drunk’” from this morning’s Chronicle of Higher Education reminds us that we’ve all encountered the type of drinker that emerges from these clandestine places: stumbling, stuttering, and, as Huguely’s lawyer said, “stupid”.

Eric Hoover, author of the aforementioned article, notes that these days, being the stupid drunk seems to be part of the college experience. He writes,

The verdict followed a two-week trial in which alcohol played a significant role. Mr. Huguely’s story reveals the awful paradox of heavy drinking: Even as it unleashes terrible behavior in one man, it so often turns his friends into bystanders, unwilling or unable to help, assuming that they even see a problem at all.

However, the loss of life (not to mention the 26 years Huguely could spend in jail) reminds us that the pervasive abuse of alcohol that stems from not learning to drink safely cannot be ignored any longer.

Lela Davidson, blogger of all things parenthood, offered a provocative perspective on alcohol education in her kids’ schools on yesterday’s MSNBC TODAYMoms blog. Davidson gives a humorous yet frank analysis on the alcohol education her children received in school. Her youngsters have apparently been taught that all alcohol is evil incarnate, and they consequently police their parents’ drinking. She writes (read the full article here),

Pouring a drink is legal, healthy and perfectly acceptable adult behavior…And yet, my 6th and 8th grader are increasingly on my case whenever they catch me with a corkscrew in hand. Maybe instead of inundating our children with the dangers of alcohol, we ought to be educating them about its proper and diverse uses, such as celebrating special occasions…

Davidson reminds her readers that children could or should learn about drinking responsibly while also being reminded of the harms of drinking irresponsibly.

Moms what have you taught your children about choosing responsibility?