ALCOHOL AND ENERGY DRINKS

Consumption Of Alcohol And Energy Drinks Among College Students

Consumption Of Alcohol And Energy Drinks Among College Students

Introduction

The use of alcohol is pervasive in our society. For every person in the United States, 24 gallons of beer, 2 gallons of distilled spirits, and more than 2 gallons of wine are sold each year. Binge drinking refers to the practice of drinking alcoholic beverages to the point of intoxication. However, there is no universally accepted definition for the term with regard to amount of alcohol or rate of drinking. Some researchers prefer the phrase “episodic heavy drinking,” in part because of the multiple and varied definitions for the word “binge” itself, which may refer to a bout of drinking lasting several days. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as “a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol content to 0.08% or above.” For men of average weight, this means five drinks in about two hours; for women, four drinks.

Discussion

Drinking of alcohol & energy drinks begins with exposure to drinking and feeling the high that results. Abuse of alcohol begins with the desire to reach that state of feeling high again and again. Drinking of alcohol & energy drinks can take many forms, but its essence is drinking to get drunk. The factors involved in drinking of alcohol & energy drinks are similar to those of drinking alcohol in the first place and can be characterized as social and psychological in nature. Binge drinkers report they engage in the practice for social reasons of status, to fit in with a drinking culture, and because of peer pressure. Others may drink as an escapist mechanism from stress or problems in life. (Woolsey 2009 )

Alcohol

According to the MTF study, 22 percent of 8th graders, 41 percent of 10th graders, and 50 percent of 12th graders reported drinking alcohol within the last month; and drinking of alcohol & energy drinks is on the rise at all three grade levels.

Here are some other facts about alcohol and children:

Almost 42 percent of 9th graders have consumed alcohol before age 13.

Girls consume alcohol and binge-drink at rates equal to boys.

Almost half the children who start drinking before age 15 will become alcoholics at some point in their lives. By delaying the onset of drinking just five years, the risk of alcohol-related problems drops 50 percent.

According to the “Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey” (CADUMS), in Canada 81 percent of the alcohol consumed is in the form of beer. Alcohol there is a major boost in alcoholic drinking between 2009 and 2010. The frequency of Alcohol and energy drinks use increased. Also half of all substance abuse treatment involves alcohol and 1 in 3 Canadian citizens stated suffer harm in the past year due to others' Alcohol drinking. (Arria 2011)

[* shows that the divergence between 2008 and 2004 is statistically significant.]

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