Binge drinking in the UK

We see drunken people almost everyday; whether it is on the news, in our local pub, walking down the street, or possibly even that one colleague at work who’s having a hard time. We’ve all heard the stories on the news about Britain’s problems with alcohol, whether its minors being inebriated, students binge drinking, or those of us who are simply alcoholics. And what are our great leaders doing to help prevent this? What is always their answer when this topic is raised in parliament? ‘Let us raise the minimum legal age for buying and consuming alcohol to 21.’ However I propose something radically different. Let us lower it. Aside from the obvious reasons – such as being able to get married at 16 but being unable to have a celebratory drink at your own wedding – there are many valid reasons to lower the age limit. Most of us know the story of Adam and Eve being thrown out of The Garden of Eden because Eve ate one of the Apples from the tree of wisdom after God told them specifically not to eat from that tree but they could eat anything else they wished to eat. This is probably the best known version of the â€Å"Forbidden Fruits† theory – also where the name originated from. There has been many psychological studies to prove and determine how, when and why the â€Å"Forbidden Fruits† theory works the way it does. If you say to your child â€Å"here is a chocolate bar, but you can’t eat it† all the child will think about is that chocolate bar and eating it. It is exactly the same with youths and alcohol, making them want to drink underage. – and this is where the problem begins for every drinker. Simply because the youths know they can not and should not drink they will do everything possible get their hands on alcohol as often as they can. However if we lower the minimum age of consumption, therefore making alcohol more accessible to youths, the number of youths with alcohol problems will decrease significantly. In countries such as Italy and France where drinking a moderate amount of alcohol with the evening meal is the norm, they have significantly less alcohol related health issues than we do. Children are allowed a sip of wine or a slurp of beer because it’s a social activity. Children, and therefore teenagers, see alcohol and its function differently. They have no concept of going out â€Å"to get drunk†. There is also the problem that, just like sex, alcohol is everywhere. There is at least one pub on every corner, every shop has an alcohol section – often near the checkout, alcohol in television shows and movies, advertisements for alcohol itself, empty tin cans and bottles lying in the streets – often smashed, inebriated people walking home, it becomes drilled into our brains to drink. To someone who is attempting not to drink, it is very hard and they will almost certainly give in due to constant reminders ‘taunting’ them. I believe we should join our brothers and sisters in the European Union. Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, the Netherlands and Switzerland all have minimum ages of 16 for buying and consumption. Meanwhile Cyprus has a minimum age of 17 and in Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and Sweden there is no minimum age. While countries in the EU do tend to drink more, the number of alcohol related problems is significantly less than in other countries. In America 57% of the adult population admit to drinking too much. When it comes to minors drinking in America only 9% of the drinkers aged 12 -14 did not binge drink – and it only gets worse! 6% of 15-17 year olds do not binge drink and a shocking 4% of 18-20 years olds (bearing in mind that the minimum age for buying and consuming alcohol in America is 21.) However in Spain only 5% of the population has an alcohol related problem. Why? They too start drinking in their early teens – just like us Britons – although the difference is they are encouraged to not only drink with friends but with family too. Finally, in Italy the quickest way to lose your friend’s and neighbors’ respect is to get drunk in public. Drinking on the streets is considered disrespectful. I feel we need a shift in the way we think about alcohol and the restrictions on it and this needs to be government led, by lowering the age limit for buying alcohol. If children grew up knowing what wine, beer etc tasted like, the mysticism behind it has been removed, and therefore the impulse to go out and get drunk. By lowering, not raising, the age limit there will be an almost instant change in the number of people abusing alcohol, especially in the younger generations. Binge Drinking In the UK History of binge drinking in the UK can be traced to several years back and nobody can tell exactly when it started. The Stone Age group thinks that fermenting of alcohol began twelve thousand years ago, during the Neolithic period, and there is no any idea if straws were used. The people of UK never got on to Thevinum until the Romans brought wine that was diluted with water. Romans in Britain influenced drinking. The Roman emperors who ruled from AD37 to AD69 were drunkards, despite the fact they were not allowed to drink while in the power stool.The Romans brought about a culture where wine was consumed along with food and children consumed diluted wine . Beer was used as a carbohydrate food in early years. In medieval England there were three fermentations with the strongest one for men, then women and weakest for monks and children. Monks brewed the best quality to be used in Eucharist. In 1736 parliament wanted to pass a law to regulate gin but people rioted and instead product ion increased.During World War 1 the government was concerned about the female soldiers who drank alcohol while fighting, thereby it introduced laws reducing beer’s strength and by the end of the war consumption had reduced, but at the moment it is on the rise. The culture of binge drinking in the UK does exist and it involves drinking intentionally to become intoxicated. The rate of consumption of Alcohol in UK per capita has risen in the last decade. People in UK not only drink beer but also spirits.The culture of binge drinking in UK is a daily norm associated with fat incomes whereby alcohol consumption is a common part of everyday life activity characterised by low rates of abstinence and easy availability of alcohol. Binge drinking is higher in UK than in France. The culture of drinking in UK is different from other European nations which have binge drinkers doing it slowly in the evening, while in the UK it is done rapidly hence drunkenness. In the UK binge drinking cu lture has unique features whereby in a social context you find large groups of about eight to twelve going out with partners with a purpose of getting drunk together.The binge drinking culture is a problem that costs the country billions of money each year. Binge drinking has both positive and negative effects. Beer is a drug like any other drug like cocaine or heroin . Binge drinking makes one to increase his self- confidence, one becomes relaxed. An average consumption of alcohol increases one’s sex drive (libido). On the other hand drinking can cause changes in people’s lives and behaviour. Alcohol cause illness and health problems, it can cause brain cell damage and the brain can not judge well, events will not be coordinated well in the brain and at older age one will lose memory.When one takes alcohol, it is directly absorbed to bloodstream and makes every organ vulnerable to diseases like cancer. Drinking though known not to be illegal, has massive social costs than illegal drugs . Binge drinking makes one easily confused and one becomes emotional. Over drinking puts one at a risk of losing consciousness and it increases the chances on one causing an accident if driving under the influence of alcohol. Drinking increase ones risk of becoming a victim of heart attack and one feels nauseous. With alcohol consumption, self control becomes a problem, with depression. Binge drinkers risk liver damage and cirrhosis.Students who binge drink are likely to fall behind in class work and are likely to plagiarise their work for submission. Binge drinking causes death, injuries and increased cases of sexual assault. Fighting at drinking places and place of resident will be on the rise . Youths are increasingly becoming binge drinkers. Children start binge drinking at an early age before teenage age. There is widespread binge drinking acts among the teenagers and pre-teens, with parents either ignoring or accepting such acts. In Europe, a youth apart fro m students drinking is not welcome but in UK it is welcome and youths massively drink.Youths have social pressure to get drunk in order to fit a certain socially group, especially during a night out. Youths at any moment they get money they link one another and go out for intoxication. France has taken a step and it is struggling to combat youths from consuming alcohol. In conclusion, binge drinking is a real problem rather than an illusion, which need to be combated in the UK. Binge drinking has a long history in the UK, the culture of drinking is luring youths each day, who do not take into consideration or who ignore the severe consequences of binge drinking.The government of UK is experiencing a rise in binge drinking by the youths. This has become a problematic issue to the government of UK in curbing the drinking culture. Bibliography: Family Training Program. Family training program for Alcohol misuse 2009. Accessed at,http://www. alcoholconcern. org. uk/files/20090429_190115 _Flyer%20A5. pdf Gossop M. Living with Drugs, Ashgate Publishing, 2007. Vallely P. 2,000 Years of Binge Drinking, 2005. Accessed at, http://www. independent. co. uk/news/uk/this-britain/2000-years-of-binge-drinking- 516009. html