research #2

A technical definition for binge drinking states that for women binge drinking is consuming four or more drinks in one sitting and for men it is consuming five or more drinks in one sitting. When twenty college freshmen were asked how many drinks they regularly consume in one sitting they answered with a whopping 7.7 drinks. (Pawelka p.3) In fact, the number of students that binge is highest in the 18 to 20 age group. (CDC) The problem with this is that those students aren’t even of the legal drinking age. The students who are consuming the most alcohol are doing it illegally. There are a few things that have shown to prevent binge drinking, they are, “Increasing alcoholic beverage costs and excise taxes, limiting the number of retail alcohol outlets… in a given area, consistent enforcement of laws against underage drinking and alcohol impaired driving, screening and counseling for alcohol misuse.” (CDC) Joseph A. Califano Jr. Said in a press release, “It’s time to get the ‘high’ out of higher education. Under any circumstances acceptance by administrators, trustees, professors and parents of this college culture of alcohol and other drug abuse is inexcusable. In this world of fierce global competition, we are losing thousands of our nation’s best and brightest to alcohol and drugs, and in the process robbing them and our nation of their promising futures.” (CDC) Binge drinking is simply too dangerous, many think that is harmless but it has many negative affects that change people’s lives forever.