Binge Drinking Culture

According to a national survey conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “almost 60 percent of college students ages 18–22 drank alcohol in the past month, 1 and almost 2 out of 3 of them engaged in binge drinking during that same timeframe” (NIH). Binge drinking culture refers to the recent rise and normalization of college age students drinking excessively. The CDC describes binge drinking as “a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol level to 0.08grams within two hours” (CDC). For many young adults, college is one of the first times they will experience complete freedom. This freedom often leads to partying, which goes hand in hand with the consumption of alcohol. However, since the age at which

She argues that when the drinking age is lower, binge drinking is less of an issue. Before the legal age was raised, college students were able to drink relatively responsibly compared to today. Sipping beer at a controlled party was the norm, while today students feel the need to pregame before going to a party since being caught with alcohol at a party can get you into serious trouble and end in a possible arrest. Also, since the parties were patrolled by police, things never got too out of control. Now, a lot of parties have to be off campus, which allows more room for dangerous situations to occur. The mentality has evolved into drinking as much as you can, and only drink what will get you the most drunk in the shortest amount of time. Young adults are more inclined to down one too many shots and head out to a party. Not only is over drinking the issue anymore, it is much more common for hard liquor to be the alcohol of choice. Drinking liquor makes it more difficult to gauge one’s limit, since it is so concentrated. While three ounces of liquor may not seem like much, in most bars, a shot glass of alcohol is seen as 1.5 ounces. This would equal two drinks, and that is already halfway to the legal blood alcohol level