Why do we drink the way we drink?

Allow me to point out why I drink - and, yes, I do drink to get drunk. The answer is obvious, but it seems that many people seem to be trying to find something deeper. The reason many of us drink to get drunk is...

...because it's fun.

Anyone who rolled their eyes at that statement will not be persuaded by anything else that I'm about to say, so you may freely ignore the rest of this comment.

Intoxication is tremendously enjoyable. It creates a well-known sense of euphoria. I presume that you are all aware of this. Getting drunk to the point of being unable to remember which way is 'up' is, despite what many very boring, serious-faced people insist to me, also great fun.

Some people get miserable when they drink heavily, or throw up and then are unable to enjoy themselves. They should stop drinking, if they are unable to enjoy alcohol's sole purpose. Don't try and tell me about the miseries that alcohol inflicts on those who drink it, they're no different than someone who compulsively watches depressing movies and then complains when they feel sad.

Some drunk people decide to walk around town or down a suburbian road while intoxicating, so the police have to waste time rounding these people up when real crimes need to be dealt with. I would note that perhaps this is an issue of bad priorities when the police are forced to waste their time chasing people for the crime of staggering slightly and slurring their speech.

And before anyone starts spinning the "drunk driving" angle, you clearly haven't been to any young (15-21 or so) drinking parties in years, because the social stigma - even when you've only had a couple and everyone around you is completely hammered - against drunk-driving is tremendous. Like, completely overwhelming. Of the many, many drinking parties I have attended in the last few years, not once have I ever seen an intoxicated person enter a vehicle.

We drink because it's fun.

We get drunk because it's fun.

We get hammered beyond all recognition because, like smoking, casual sex, masturbation, soft drugs, comedy, mindless action movies, and mocking Sarah Palin's attempts at delivering speeches, it's fun.

You want a better reason? Enjoying yourselves with your friends and loved ones whilst in a state of euphoria - for me, that's plenty reason enough. Deal with it.

I used to partake in binge drinking when I was younger 18-23. I did this because it was part of youth culture at university. It was simply what people did. In particular in smaller provincial towns in New Zealand it was ALL there was to do. But, I also think that socially and in work places excessive drinking is encouraged. There seems to be little publication of the risks - such as the effects on the developing brain until 25 years of age. It wasn't until I was 23 I realised that I didn't like binge drinking very much, that it wasn't very healthy and in fact there were other ways to socialise. But it took me a while to figure this out.In fact the people that get very drunk often are unlikely to be the kind of people I want to socialise with anyway. Although I find this behaviour distateful if people want to drink like that and have "fun" as some commentators put it, I think this should be allowed - I think it would be wrong that a draconian system was in place. I am now 28 and much prefer going out for a meal or to the theatre rather than drinking. I do still enjoy driking wine on these occaisions but in moderation. I wouldn't want anything to increase the price of alcohol as I still drink it and wouldn't want my glass of chardonnay to be 50 cents more expensive.

I think educating people about alcohol simply does not work. It is like trying to educate people about the effects of crime - it does not lead to less crime taking place.

Why does education not work? Simple - There is a large proportion of people who simply do not care. They might be well educated, or they might have never finished school. If a person does not feel the consequence of their actions then they have no reason to change their behaviour.

Enough about that. So what does work? Money is the one thing that motvates/demotivates people best - it's linked to people's actions more then any other force in the world (forget sex, beauty, religion, love - money has made and broken empires and individuals the world over). If you want to alter people's actions then you need to use economics.

Availability is not an issue of having too many liquor outlets, opening/closing times, or age restrictions - it is about what people can afford. If the booze is cheap enough for at 16 year old on a part-time weekend job then he/she will buy it. If it is expensive enough (without being too unreasonable) to make them think twice about bying it then there is your deterrent.

Social change will follow, liquor outlets will diminish, youth drinking will shrink, binge drinking will shrink.

The only other issue to consider here is who has the guts to impose a significant increase in the price of alcohol? Who is willing to become so unpopular that people will hate them with a passion?

There will be supposed casualties. We will hears stories about old people who can no longer afford to buy brandy on their pensions. We will hear about the average working person not being able to drink more then a beer or two on their night out. bBrs will complain about huge fall in patronage.

GOOD! That is what we want - we want less people to drink. Or better put, we want more people to drink less. I agree, there will be 'tough times', but if we are going to make a change it will not be easy or fun. At the end of the day, we simply do not need alcohol as much as many people/liquor companies would make us believe we do.

Why do we drink the way we drink?

First, people drink the way they drink for different reasons. People who do not drink also have different reasons for not drinking. We need to keep this point closely in mind when thinking about making general laws.

Second, there are certain socio-cultural conditions that increase the liklihood that certain segments of our society will binge drink. I want to consider five.

Escape. This is drinking to escape the stress of everyday life. A high pressure job, death of a loved one, relationship problems, financial problems.

Courage. 'Dutch courage' - a partially accepted antidote to an imminent stressful event, for example approaching a potential sexual partner.

Losen up. No one likes a 'tight ass' and liquor is an antidote. Also associated with risk-taking - an activity widely encouraged in our society.

Celebration. The routine of drinking. What is a celebration without alcohol? And a better celebration is one where every one 'has a good time' (ie: gets wasted).

Socialisation. Just as smokers hang out, drinkers hang out. It's hard not to drink when everyone else is drinking. When others are drinking to excess, it makes it socially acceptable (in that group) to also drink to excess.

So what?

There are two basic methods to deal with the causes of excessive drinking (1) empowering individuals to control their perceptions of the need/want for alcohol (2) dampen collective sentiment promoting the social acceptability of drinking.

How?

(1) We need to associate excessive drinking with weak character and moderate/no drinking with robust character. Robust people take their worries on the chin and/or share/talk about them. Weak people suppress their worries and pretend they are not there.

(2) Excessive drinkers should be encouraged to self-reflect and should be positively reinforced for doing so. Excessive drinkers should be presented with alternative options for things to do when not drinking - these could be subsidised.

(3) Incentivise and reward not drinking or moderate drinking. Eg: liquor outlets could sell smaller quantities at discounted rates rather than the usual large quantities at discounted rates. Eg: non-alcoholic drinks in bars made very cheap (eg: Red Bull = $1 not $5.50!).

(4) Set a few examples through hard enforcement. My experience is that most people get let off low-level offenses committed under intoxication. I know of people who become martyred as a result - they have beaten the law! This tells others that they can 'get out of jail free' too. Intoxication should be (if it is not already) an aggrivating factor at sentancing and that fact should be widely known.

This examination is partial at best. Sorry for heeps of text. Hope it helps :-) Dominique.

Totally fair point Bunny - fun and euphoria, bring it on. It's genuinely great to hear that none of your teenage drinking party mates have ever driven drunk, truly encouraging to hear. I guess all the thousands of young guys who get pi--ed every weekend and crash cars, create mayhem and violence and sometimes die don't go to your parties. You must have lucked into some amazing group of young people who love to get hammered beyond all recognition yet stay responsible. I'd love to know the secret, no sarcasm intended.

Can't help but point out though, I don't think the A&E departments, women's refuges, police cells and rehab clinics are buckling under the weight of people who watch too many depressing movies. But if repeatedly getting so drunk you don't know which way is up really makes you happy and doesn't mess with your head or hurt anyone around you, then until it does I guess it's not a problem, and the shareholders of the alcohol companies will certainly be glad to hear it.

This is an issue of great interest, but let's face the facts. The majority of alcohol problems in our society are in the 40-50 year old age group. So raising the age to purchase from retailers will solve very little of this problem. A point in an article concerning one in five sexual abuse cases is irrelevant to the proposed law change as I can guarantee that less than two percent of any sexual abuse crime would be from an under twenty. Young adults are not completely ignorant and can tell when they are intoxicated, just as anyone else. This issue is ingrained in our society and is passed down from generation to generation so instead of prohibiting the younger generations from having access to alcohol in a controlled, safe environment, such as the home. To be out in town on weekends can be very dangerous, especially for young woman. We should be educating people how to drink in a more socially acceptable manner, similar to the way the French view drinking. The legal age in France is sixteen and there is very little alcohol related crime in any age group. Another issue that should be considered before this law is passed is the jobs it will cost young people. As the law stands at the moment, no person under the age of 18 may sell alcohol from a licensed premises. This new proposed law would then mean that under twenties will not be able to be employed by these businesses. Now this may not stir many people but for the poorest people in our community, students, the alcohol industry is a significant employer. To pass this law would also mean a large decrease in government revenue, and with the expansionary fiscal policy that the government is using at the moment, they need all the revenue they can get, to avoid another Muldoon sized debt. So why should we raise the drinking age again?

During the recent trination games we went to some local bars that were showing the rugby. Unfortunately the bar managers seemed to support people who were drunk and obnoxious over other clients who perhaps weren't drinking as much (and so handing over as much money) which was disappointing at the least. From our experience, we probably won't be going back to those bars but surely bar managers/staff should be penalised more often for continuing to serve people who are drunk