The Use of Alcohol Should be Banned for all State University Undergraduate Students

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The Use of Alcohol Should be Banned for all State University Undergraduate Students

"According to the Core Institute, an organization that surveys college drinking practices, 300,000 of today's college students will eventually die of alcohol-related causes such as drunk driving accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, various cancers and heart disease" (Phoenix House). All around the State campus, at frat parties, in black-light-lit dorm rooms, and even at casual social gatherings, alcohol can be found in abundance. Despite the many downsides to alcohol use, college students as a whole maintain a very casual attitude toward drinking. I believe that drinking causes many more problems than it is worth to anyone, which is why I propose that the use of alcohol should be banned for all State University undergraduate students.

Granted, alcohol has a very strong and important historical and cultural background. "Babylonians were brewing beer, which they considered a gift from the gods, in 5000 B.C" (Hoechsmann). Indeed, it is said that Noah stocked the Ark with beer. Furthermore, wine is mentioned in the Bible about 165 times, and it plays an important role in Christian religious traditions. During church communion, Christians eat bread and drink wine to memorialize the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for their sins. At weddings, the English custom of toasting the bride gave us the modern word bridal (Hoechsmann). Throughout history, alcohol in its various forms has been used for a multitude of rituals; to many people, banning alcohol would be denying them their cultural heritage.

Many people — both drinkers and non-drinkers — will argue that alcohol has advantages. Some of the effects of alcohol that are generally seen as positive are gi...

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