Attitudes to alcohol

[Muminki]

Binge-drinking is a particular problem among young people, with almost a fifth of the 15-24 age group usually binge-drinking when consuming alcohol, according to the results of the survey on attitudes towards alcohol, presented by the European Commission on Thursday.

According to the data, men drink more than women, and one in 10 Europeans usually drinks five or more drinks in one session.

Almost eight out of 10 Europeans agree with putting warnings on alcohol bottles and adverts to warn pregnant women and drivers of the dangers of drinking alcohol.

Are we drinking too much? What about this binge-drinking craze?
What do you think contributes to the increase in alcohol consumption?

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Binge drinking is a problem in the US too, especially among high school and college students.

I guess people that age think binge drinking is fun or something-even though it can kill you and in some cases turn you into an alcoholic. I think our attitudes about alcohol make it far more acceptable than drugs are, but alcohol is a drug. Having personally witnessed what alcoholism and alcohol can do to people, I sure wish that teens and young adults would not binge drink.

 

[Vincent Vega]

Very important to stress is, the consume of alcohol has decreased.
But, the ones who drink drink more.

that means, less people drink alcohol, but if they do, they do binge drinking.
I've just read about a 16 year old that fell into coma after drinking 52 Tequila.
The doctor explained, if you drink very fast your body doesn't have the chance to react, hence you can drink so much as to poison your body.
That was what this boy did.

As the survey shows, most people say that if they are going to drink, generally they then want to binge-drink.
Onöy a few people said they are generally fine with one or two beer or glasses of wine.

 

[BVS]

What about this binge-drinking craze?

I really wouldn't call it a craze, binge drinking has been around forever, and it's usually in the "inexperienced".

 

[Liesje]

Besides binge-drinking, another thing I've been noticing a lot lately is people drinking while taking certain drugs. Two years ago, a fellow student died after taking sleeping pills and one drink. A few weeks ago, I had to call 911 because the man downstairs had drank after taking his blood pressure meds and was having seizures. More than once I've had to catch my friend after she takes anti-anxiety meds and reaches for a drink.

If people want to drink, hey whatever, but I'm losing sympathy for people who are too stupid to remember the drugs they've taken, or just think they are invincible. It pisses me off because many times, they don't learn from their actions and it ends up causing their families and friends constant stress of having to police them and constantly worry that they could drop dead from a few drinks.

 

[Irvine511]

i disagree with the definitions of binge drinking. i'm a big, solid man. 5 beers isn't going to do to me what it is going to do to a 110lb female. i could very easily go to a bar and have 5 beers and, while i wouldn't drive, i wouldn't consider myself all that drunk, nor would i consider myself to have just binged.

 

[Vincent Vega]

That's right. Here five beers is for a starter. It's even that beer isn't consumed that much by the youth.
Usually you start drinking at 14 at the latest. It's not unusual to see kids as young as nine or ten at a party totally drunk. They drink beer and alcopops.
The older ones, i.e. thirteen plus drink vodka, cognac, rum and all that stuff, mixed with cola, or Red Bull-Vodka and such with some liquors in between.

They drink until everythnig comes back, so that they can proll about howm much they drank the next monday in school.

Very popular is so-called flatrate-drinking in discos.
Flatrate here is if you have a DSL unlimited plan, and in the discos it is you pay €12, about $15, and can drink as much as you like. So of course it's a contest very often, and if you can't compet, you are out.

This behaviour stops around age 22 or so, sometimes later.

 

[BVS]

That's right. Here five beers is for a starter. It's even that beer isn't consumed that much by the youth.
Usually you start drinking at 14 at the latest. It's not unusual to see kids as young as nine or ten at a party totally drunk. They drink beer and alcopops.
The older ones, i.e. thirteen plus drink vodka, cognac, rum and all that stuff, mixed with cola, or Red Bull-Vodka and such with some liquors in between.

Wow, I was still playing with GiJoes at age 9...

 

[Vincent Vega]

Yes, it's frightening. When I was nine I didn't think about partying and drinking at all.
When I was fifteen I saw those toddlers running around totally drunk.

 

[AussieU2fanman]

That's right. Here five beers is for a starter. It's even that beer isn't consumed that much by the youth.
Usually you start drinking at 14 at the latest. It's not unusual to see kids as young as nine or ten at a party totally drunk. They drink beer and alcopops.
The older ones, i.e. thirteen plus drink vodka, cognac, rum and all that stuff, mixed with cola, or Red Bull-Vodka and such with some liquors in between.

What?! 9 or 10?! Surely that's an exaggeration, I'm only 20 and it's absolutely impossible for me to imagine it being somewhat common for kids that young to be drinking. From what I know about my country the earliest age kids start to drink is 14-16. Although this may differ in the US and europe.
But, I didn't even think it's possible for children 9,10 years of age to stomach enough alcohol to get drunk without contstantly throwing up.
Any reliable stats on the subject?

If this is true and it's starting to become common for people that young to drink then that's a huuuuggeee problem.

 

[Irvine511]

What?! 9 or 10?! Surely that's an exaggeration, I'm only 20 and it's absolutely impossible for me to imagine it being somewhat common for kids that young to be drinking. From what I know about my country the earliest age kids start to drink is 14-16. Although this may differ in the US and europe.
But, I didn't even think it's possible for children 9,10 years of age to stomach enough alcohol to get drunk without contstantly throwing up.
Any reliable stats on the subject?

If this is true and it's starting to become common for people that young to drink then that's a huuuuggeee problem.

yeah, at 9 or 10 it seems like even small amounts of alcohol would make you sick.

i would say most have their first drinks between the ages of 14-16, though in the US it's illegal, so there's lots of sneaking around and drinking beer in the woods and stuff, which is half the fun and the appeal, but i think it also adds to the binge mentality and treats alcohol like a drug meant to fuck you up, instead of an addition to a meal or a social lubricant or something to enjoy. when you're young, it's drink to get drunk, and do it quickly so you don't get caught.

 

[Vincent Vega]

Well, it's not as if the majority of kids is behaving like that. Not at all.
But it still is a frightening lot of children that age.
It normally really starts at age 14. With nine or ten they are drunk quite fast. One beer and that's it, or one to tow alcopops.

The fact is, it is happening, and the pressure on other kids is growing.
You are the coolest when you do what the older ones, i.e. the teenagers do.
Then a small group starts, and in order to get accepted you either participate, or you start looking for new friends.

Maybe it came off a bit as the usual situation, and I'm sorry for that. I didn't intend to exaggerate, but wanted to show how it evolves.

As I wrote in my first post, the number of people drinking decreased over the previous years, but the ones who start drinking drink more.

 

[Vincent Vega]

yeah, at 9 or 10 it seems like even small amounts of alcohol would make you sick.

i would say most have their first drinks between the ages of 14-16, though in the US it's illegal, so there's lots of sneaking around and drinking beer in the woods and stuff, which is half the fun and the appeal, but i think it also adds to the binge mentality and treats alcohol like a drug meant to fuck you up, instead of an addition to a meal or a social lubricant or something to enjoy. when you're young, it's drink to get drunk, and do it quickly so you don't get caught.

That's how you recognize who of them is drunk.
It is a small amount they drink, then they can't walk, and shortly thereafter you see them getting the stuff out again.

They don't drink too much, but enough to get drunk, and often to get sick.

In Germany beer and other drinks with less than, I think, 12 per cent vol. alcohol and cigarettes are allowed at age 16, the rest is allowed when you turn 18.
But of course nobody wants to wait until they can legally do it.

With cigarettes it's similar.
The worst I've seen was a five year old smoking, but that was a single case and his mother didn't care at all.
My friends started smoking with eight for one summer, then quit and started again at about thirteen. We started drinking at about fourteen. When my cousin was eleven or twelve, he and another one had some cognac, pure, and he got very sick from it.

 

[anitram]

Re: Re: Attitudes to alcohol

I really wouldn't call it a craze, binge drinking has been around forever, and it's usually in the "inexperienced".

That's not really my experience. Most of the heavy binge drinkers I've encountered were law students, MBA students, etc, people well into their 20s.

 

[BVS]

Re: Re: Re: Attitudes to alcohol

That's not really my experience. Most of the heavy binge drinkers I've encountered were law students, MBA students, etc, people well into their 20s.

Fair enough. In my experience I've seen most people slow down their drinking in the late 20's or once they leave school...

 

[anitram]

Yeah, it was true with most my friends.

But it seem like professional programs are stacked with boozers. It's actually seriously appalling.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I guess that's how some of the people in those programs cope with the stress.

 

[Laura M]

In Europe I imagine people drink a lot more and from an earlier age.

We have the highest amount of binge-drinkers here in Europe. 1 in 3 Irish folk binge drink. It doesn't really surprise me, all our socialising is done in the pub and people here can't limit themselves.

 

[Vincent Vega]

That's right, Germany came second after GB.

Beer is a culture here. And from beer it all starts.

 

[verte76]

That's right. Here five beers is for a starter. It's even that beer isn't consumed that much by the youth.
Usually you start drinking at 14 at the latest. It's not unusual to see kids as young as nine or ten at a party totally drunk. They drink beer and alcopops.
The older ones, i.e. thirteen plus drink vodka, cognac, rum and all that stuff, mixed with cola, or Red Bull-Vodka and such with some liquors in between.

They drink until everythnig comes back, so that they can proll about howm much they drank the next monday in school.

Very popular is so-called flatrate-drinking in discos.
Flatrate here is if you have a DSL unlimited plan, and in the discos it is you pay €12, about $15, and can drink as much as you like. So of course it's a contest very often, and if you can't compet, you are out.

This behaviour stops around age 22 or so, sometimes later.

Good grief.

 

[financeguy]

It's a Northern European thing.

 

[financeguy]

Usually you start drinking at 14 at the latest. It's not unusual to see kids as young as nine or ten at a party totally drunk. r.

Are you sure about this? Even in Ireland 9 and 10 year olds are not generally getting hammered, it starts in the 14/15 year age group.

 

[VertigoGal]

In the US I think 14-16 is generally accurate for when people start drinking.

reasons for binge drinking/getting relatively drunk, especially if you're underage:
-it's fun
-it's funny
-easiest access to alcohol is often rum/tequila/vodka, that's what teens drink most commonly in my experience. of course you can mix drinks, but shots are so easy to swallow.
-sometimes there are relatively few opportunities throughout the month to drink without getting caught, so people want to party and not just get a slight buzz

honestly I think abuse of prescription drugs is becoming a bigger problem and causing more harm...but again that's just my personal experience at my high school.

 

[Vincent Vega]

Are you sure about this? Even in Ireland 9 and 10 year olds are not generally getting hammered, it starts in the 14/15 year age group.

Yes, as I said, most start at age 14. That's the age where most get their frst experiences.

With "It's not unusual to see kids as young as nine or ten at a party totally drunk" I didn't want to say it's as common as 14, but you see these children. It happens. It's not like half the party consists of nine year olds, but some are there.

You can also say that it depends on which school form they attend. In Germany we have three different schools, one for the children that have difficulties to learn, one for the "normal" kids, and one for the more intelligent ones. It's called Hauptschule, Realschule and the last one Gymnasium. And the kids that attend the Gymnasium usually are the last to start drinking, often even not before the age of sixteen.

So, nine to ten year olds are a very small minority, but I can't deny that there are some.

 

[Irvine511]

It's a Northern European thing.

it's that whole lack of sunlight thing.

i don't remember any sunlight in Belgium from October to mid-April.

none.

 

[anitram]

Yeah, I was going to say that if you have widespread binge drinking (or any kind of excessive drinking really) at the age of 9 or 10 that indicates to me some serious and severe social problems.

 

[Vincent Vega]

Yeah, I was going to say that if you have widespread binge drinking (or any kind of excessive drinking really) at the age of 9 or 10 that indicates to me some serious and severe social problems.

That's in a way right, but in another.. hm.

I grew up in a village surrounded by other villages.
In some of these you couldn't deal with the kids, and the teenagers. In others, like mine, the kids were ok.

And so, the really young kids generally came from the villages were the youth and kids generally was a bit weird.

But it wasn't like the parents were poor or something. It was normal, mixed folks, or still is. I don't know the reason. Probably just the surrounding.
So, it is hard to say how it comes. Some parents just really don't care, or turn a blind eye on that.

Still, it's not too many kids that age, just a few every now and then, like I meant to say.

Fourteen is the age the majority has its first experiences of drinking.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Reuters

WASHINGTON - About half of U.S. college students binge drink or abuse drugs, and the number who abuse prescription medication such as painkillers is up sharply, a report released on Thursday found.

The study, issued by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York, provides a detailed look at substance abuse among America's college students based on surveys, interviews and other research.

"I think we have, by almost any standard, a serious public health problem on the college campuses. And it's deteriorating," Joseph Califano, who heads the center and served as U.S. health secretary from 1977 to 1979, said in a telephone interview.

The report found that 49 percent of full-time college students ages 18 to 22 binge drink (consuming five or more drinks at a time), or abuse prescription drugs such as painkillers or illegal drugs like cocaine and marijuana. That translates to 3.8 million students.

In 2005, 23 percent of them met the medical criteria for substance abuse or dependence, it said.

From 1993 to 2005, the proportion of students who abuse prescription painkillers such as Percocet, Vicodin and OxyContin rose more than 300 percent to 3.1 percent (about 240,000 students), the report said.

Abuse of prescription stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall doubled to 2.9 percent (225,000 students), and abuse of tranquilizers also rose, the report said.

During the same period, daily marijuana use more than doubled to 4 percent (310,000 students). Overall use of other illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin rose by half to 8.2 percent (636,000 students).


"Basically the proportion of college students who drink and binge drink has stayed constant. But what's troubling is the tremendous increase in the intensity of their drinking and drug use and the excessiveness of it," Califano said.

The percentage of students who drink remained about even with a similar 1993 report -- 70 percent then and 68 percent in 2005. Binge drinking stayed at 40 percent of students.

But the proportion who binge drink frequently, defined as three or more times over two weeks, rose by 16 percent from 1993 to 2005. Drinking 10 or more times per month rose 25 percent, and drinking three or more times per month rose 26 percent.

Daily smoking among college students fell from 15 percent in 1993 to 12 percent in 2005.

The substance abuse has contributed to alcohol-related deaths and injuries, and sexual assaults against female students, the report said.

Califano called the report the most exhaustive ever done on substance abuse on U.S. college campuses.

"College presidents, deans and trustees have facilitated a college culture of alcohol and drug abuse that is linked to poor student academic performance, depression, anxiety, suicide, property damage, vandalism, fights and a host of medical problems," the report said.

The report was based on results of a nationally representative telephone survey of 2,000 students, surveys of approximately 400 college and university administrators, interviews with researchers in the field and other data.

 

[U2lunatic]

I'm a student, 16 years old, and I have classmates that can't imagine life without alcohol, some are drunk every week , I asked one and he said that he was first time drunk at 12, so I think here in central Europe it's problem too,even the teachers sometimes know about it but do nothing

 

[randhail]

i disagree with the definitions of binge drinking. .

I agree with you 100% 5 drinks in a session is a rather vague description. Is a session an hour, 2 hours, 6 hours? It really makes a big difference. I feel like the number applied to binge is so small and vague that of course the study will say binge drinking is a huge problem. I'm by no means saying that it's not a problem, but I don't think it's as bad as this study indicates.