As a child who grew up in a middle class home I can tell you alcohol was prevalent in both the home and among my experimenting friends. I was 12 when I got drunk for the first time.

According to a recent study reported in www.telegraph.co.uk, more middle class children are experiencing alcohol at earlier ages. I would hope they would be forced to take an 8 hour MIP class as soon as possible. They must understand the invisible damage they are doing to their brain and body.

The study revealed that middle-class children are far more likely to have drunk alcohol by the age of 12 than those from lower social groups.

Is it alarming to you that more than one in three of those born in professional households had downed a full glass before reaching their teenage years? The 35 per cent figure among the middle classes is almost twice the level found among 12-year-olds across all economic groups.

Many of these young experimenters secretly raided well-stocked liquor cabinets, while many more were being allowed to drink by parents who believed that it would help them to develop more mature attitudes towards alcohol.

The fact is, the younger children begin to drink the greater the likelihood they will develop a lifelong drinking problem.

Parents should not encourage youth to drink alcohol, nor should they condone it in any manner. Alcohol is a toxin. What parent in their right mind would supply their child with poison. Perhaps parents also need to take a 24 hour alcohol awareness class!

Drinking alcohol is as ubiquitous to college as textbooks and lecture halls. For many, alcohol consumption is the centerpiece of their social interactions. Unfortunately most college students feel they are invincible and do not recognize the damage to their bodies their alcohol consumption is causing.

In addition to the physical damage to organs like the liver, binge drinking in college gives students a good head start on future alcoholism.

Should Universities Have Their Own Drinking Age?

Unique drinking laws for universities. How attractive it seems, the opportunity to drink legally while polishing that paper or arguing with a fellow student about how to save the world! Yet not only do I consider this to be an ineffective idea, I think it's entirely counterproductive to the American idea — universal freedom — that it is intended to further. This is just a bad, bad idea.

There is movement afloat, albeit a ridiculous one, to lower the drinking age or remove it altogether. There is, of course, nothing new about this debate. The drinking age is perhaps the last great age restriction in America that warrants widespread criticism — at least until sixth graders awaken with the pressing desire to drive.

License to Drink?

Would it be OK for your teen to drink if they took an alcohol awareness class and understood the dangers of alcohol better? This is another ridiculously stupid idea!

As such, a number of systems have been already proposed for how to effectively reform drinking legislation. Some, like that supported by former Tufts president Larry Bacow, advocate for requiring a license to drink not unlike that required to operate an automobile, holding as a prerequisite that applicants take a class to better understand the risks and responsible means for alcohol consumption.

If they truly are aware of the risks of alcohol consumption and they could think logically, they would know they should never take a drink in the first place!

The only people who want the drinking age lowered are those under the age of 21. Colleges like Tufts in Boston, MA should know better that a license to drink is nothing more than a piece of paper

Source: www.tuftsdaily.com

Nobody will deny that alcohol creates problems in people’s lives. There is no denying the role alcohol plays on college campuses. Students know they are going to be exposed to alcohol early and often in college. Administrators know the issue exists, but are at their wits end to solve the issue.

Drinking Creates Great Stories

Alcoholic exploits make for good gossip, and they tend to spread fast and wide. Excessive drinking seems normal, because it's dramatic and it gets a lot of attention and it makes it sound like everyone's doing it.

While it's not everyone, it's still a lot. Roughly 80 percent of college students drink, and half of them "engage in heavy episodic consumption," also known as binge drinking, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Combine that with the negative consequences — increased risks for violence and sexual assault, class failures, arrests, injuries and embarrassment — and some educators are now cautioning against sending teens away to school, where they can't be easily watched over.

Peer Pressure

While some campus education and prevention initiatives, like those offered by the University of Virginia’s Gordie Center, have helped reduce alcohol abuse and the associated consequences among college students over the past decade or so, the national numbers are still disturbing.

An NIAAA report released in 2009 shows that alcohol-related deaths of people ages 18 to 24 were up 14 percent to 1,825 in 2005, compared with roughly 1,605 in 1998. And the number of students reporting a DWI arrest skyrocketed 46 percent during the same time period, to 3.36 million from 2.3 million.

Everyone Drinks at College (almost)

Who's doing the drinking varies, but there are representatives from all groups, educators said: jocks, Greeks, nerds and socialites alike. Athletes, along with fraternity and sorority members, tend to be considered the stereotypical abusers, however, with each falling prey to peer pressure.

One study by the Harvard School of Public Health, have shown that athletes tend to drink more than their non-athlete peers and to experience more negative effects.

And among athletes, lacrosse players are among the biggest partiers, according to a National Collegiate Athletic Association report published this year looking at substance use among college athletes. The report was based on responses to the association's 2009 survey of 20,474 student athletes in 23 championship sports.

Hopefully, through more alcohol classes and counseling and paternal involvement alcohol consumption and addiction will start to decline.

source: www.baltimoresun.com

We all remember the tragic events at the University of Virginia last with the death of lacrosse player Yeardley Love. If you recall she was allegedly beaten to death by her ex-boyfriend, George Huguely V, a player on the top-ranked Cavaliers men’s team.

There's little question that Huguely, the former University of Virginia student on trial for murder, had a problem with alcohol.

History of Alcohol-related Troubles

He had been arrested twice for drinking-related infractions, one of them violent, in his early 20s. And he admits to consuming at least 15 drinks — and likely had more, witnesses said — the day he confronted Love at her off-campus apartment in 2010, assaulting her so severely she later died.

But trial testimony over the past two weeks from witnesses, most of them former U.Va. students, has repeatedly shown that Huguely, now 24, was part of a college culture where some young people drink before working on papers, "pregame" before going to bars and drink to get drunk almost every time.

As a college graduate myself I can attest to the ridiculous amount of drinking that goes on. Like many alcoholics, my problem with booze began in high school.

The alcohol abuse starts in high school, with kids imbibing on the weekends, and frequently grows out of control once they're out from under their parents' supervision, prevention experts said. They added that shows like MTV's "Real World" and "Jersey Shore" and annual lists of top party colleges add fuel to the fire, feeding an impression that everyone gets wasted all the time.

Who is to say that had Huguely received alcohol classes that this incident might not have happened. Many drunks do not get violent when they drink. Colleges are most-definitely aware of the role alcohol plays on campus and have no illusions that many of their students are getting drunk. So what is the answer? How can we keep alcohol-related tragedies from happening?

Source: www.baltimoresun.com

Good solid family with open lines of communication and strong interaction is instrumental in keeping kids off of drugs and alcohol. If you can keep them off when they are younger, it will certainly help their future.

How many times a week does your family eat dinner together?

The answer to this question may be directly related to the risk of your teen’s drinking, smoking, or using other drugs.

Research has shown that compared to teens having frequent family dinners (5-7per week) those having infrequent family dinners (fewer than 3 such meals) are:

• More than two times as likely to use alcohol
• More than four times as likely to use tobacco
• Two and a half times as likely to use marijuana
• Nearly four times as likely to anticipate trying drugs at some point in the future
• Approximately four of every 10 teens interviewed reported having infrequent family meals. Given the current economy and necessity for parents to work long hours, we can only expect this figure to increase.

What makes family dinners so important is the chance to interact, share humor and sadness, achieve recognition for accomplishments, and find unconditional support when efforts fail. Basically, human bonding is the key to health and happiness.

The experience of having a predictable home base becomes increasingly valuable to teens as they move into the adult world and seek their place in it. It is especially important during the “bravado” stage of adolescence, when our kids become obnoxiously uncommunicative and dismiss family values as outdated.

Our goal as parents is to help our child make it to age 21 without abusing alcohol, using illegal drugs, and/or smoking tobacco. When this happens, the odds of his or her beginning to abuse these substances are small to nonexistent.

Finally, increased parent/child time decreases the amount of time a teen is likely to spend with peers who use illegal drugs, prescription drugs without a prescription, and/or over-the-counter medication to get high. Teens spending seven hours or less per week with their parents are approximately twice as likely to have at least one such drug-using friend as are those spending 21 or more hours with parents.

Family and human relationships are the essence of life. The only way to cultivate true relationships is in an alcohol and drug-free environment. You and your teens can learn more through alcohol awareness classes.

Teens are a hard group to get through.  If you are a teenager now, you think you know it all, and even if you don’t, you’re young and things will work out.  If you’re an adult trying to get through to a teen, good luck.  The best advice is to never give up – try, try, try!

In Virginia, like the rest of the country, drug and alcohol use and abuse among teens is at record levels.

According to the Washington Examiner, in the Alexandria City Public Schools drug and alcohol-related incidents more than doubled in the past two years.

With respect to drinking, smoking and taking drugs on school grounds -- or simply bringing the contraband to class -- the number of infractions jumped from 26 in 2008-2009 to 32 in 2009-2010, before hitting a record 52 last year.

Students suspended for having or using drugs on campus are usually out for less than 10 days, and are permitted to return as soon as they show they've sought treatment.

On the bright side,  Arlington County Public Schools saw 67 drug, tobacco and alcohol infractions last school year, down from 101 the prior year and 82 in 2008-2009.

Another bright spot in Virginia is Fairfax County Public Schools, where offenses dropped to 788 from 915 in 2009-2010 and 999 in 2008-2009.

Increased alcohol and drug awareness is always a step in the right direction to help bring down the numbers.  Hopefully with more Virginia Minor in Possession classes, and greater parent vigilance and responsibility we can work toward keeping our kids healthy and sober.

When you were in high school did you use drugs or alcohol? Did your friends? Was there a certain stigma given to people who did? Did race play a factor? According to a new study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and reported by Business Week, Asian and black teens are less likely to party.

Black and Asian teenagers in the U.S. are less likely to use alcohol or drugs than adolescents of other races.

The survey of 72,561 teens found that American Indian youth had the highest level of drug or alcohol use, with 48 percent reporting they had used the substances in the past year. That was followed by 39 percent of whites, 37 percent of Hispanics, 36 percent mixed-race teens, 32 percent of blacks and 24 percent of Asians.

Overall, 37 percent, or 27,705, of the teens in the study said they used alcohol or drugs in the past year.

These statistics still are quite alarming, especially given that they are probably skewed downward. This is a very real public health. We need to be looking for it and we need to be trying to jump in to do what we can to get these kids into treatment and turn them around while they’re still adolescents.

About 90 percent of all adults with alcohol and drug problems started using before the age of 18 and half started before the age of 15.

It seems that more MIP classes are needed. Despite all our efforts the message clearly is not coming through strong enough. Steps need to be taken now if we are to help save our and our children’s future. 

Doctors should know better. This Massachusetts doctor never should have provided alcohol to minors. For some it is merely illegal. For other, providing booze to minors can cost you your career.

A prominent Latham physician provided alcohol to minors at a party at his home over the summer.

Colonie police say a teenage girl had to be transported by ambulance from the house, to an area hospital after allegedly getting 'highly intoxicated' at the doctor's home.

Dr. George Stasior was arrested at around midnight the evening of the party on charges of endangering the welfare of a child' and unlawfully dealing with a child, both Class A misdemeanors.

According to Fox 23 News, Police initially received a loud party call from a concerned neighbor. Once they were doing the investigation, they located the 16-year-old female who was in a highly intoxicated condition, and also was being ill from her alcohol intake, and that's when they called the ambulance for her.

The girl made a full recovery, but police arrested the Loudonville homeowner, Dr. Stasior, for 'endangering the welfare of a child' for his alleged role in the 16-year-olds' intoxication, and for 'unlawfully dealing with a child' for allegedly providing alcohol to a group of about 20 minors.

Patrol officers told Lt. Winn when they first arrived at the party, there were about 25 people at the Stasior home, but immediately several guests 'ran away,' and, in the end 15 minors, each between the ages of 15 and 18-years old were identified, and had to call their parents to secure a safe ride to pick them up.

This case should serve as a reminder to all parents of teens.

There's a campaign out there, “IF YOU HOST, YOU LOSE,” it's a popular, nationwide campaign, which is telling people, 'listen, if you're hosting a party at your residence, you become liable for the persons at that residence.'"

So the bottom line, here is this, is just do not provide alcohol to underage people, period!

He made need an alcohol drug class, but that will only be part of the solution to the serious problem facing him. A student charged with selling marijuana as part of a prolific drug-dealing ring at Columbia University in New York will get a chance to wipe his record clean by spending at least a year living in a drug-abuse treatment center.

Christopher Coles is the only one of five students arrested in the case to get that opportunity, extended to more than 1,000 people statewide each year. The Columbia students are perhaps the most high-profile defendants to try to get the option, known as diversion to treatment, since 2009 changes in state law gave judges more latitude to use it.

The 21-year-old Coles, charged with selling as much as a pound of marijuana to an undercover officer, was in just that predicament. The political science and anthropology major from Maryland developed a $70-to-$100-a-day pot-smoking habit while in college and sought treatment for it on campus weeks before his arrest last December.

Meanwhile, Coles' parents took a stand against his drug use by cutting him off financially, so he sold the drugs to finance his habit.

But the city Special Narcotics Prosecutor's office said Coles' dealing was motivated by profit-seeking, not addiction. Coles is seen on video making businesslike, sober-seeming transactions with the undercover officer.

Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Ellen Coin, who oversees a special drug court, decided Coles was a fit for the diversion program, which may cost his family up to $3,000 a month. He's due to start treatment after a Dec. 20 court date. If he succeeds, the case would ultimately be dismissed; if he fails, he would face a sentence yet to be determined.

While diversion programs have existed in New York for years, a 2009 overhaul of the state's once notoriously stringent drug laws argued in part that addicted offenders would more likely be reformed by treatment than by prison.

I am all for reform rather than prison time. If this is the kid’s first offense, why not give him a chance at redemption. Although, as a recovering alcoholic and drug addict I find it virtually impossible to have a $70-100 per day pot habit.

Despite the fact that most parents of my generation smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol during pregnancies, most kids turned out ok. Nevertheless, it is surprising how many mothers continue to abuse their bodies while they are pregnant given all the medical knowledge available today.

Real-Life Story

Janet Christie drank all through her pregnancy. Her son, now a young adult, had enormous behavioral problems. He failed Grade 2; by the age of 15 he still couldn’t read; his problems made him feel full of rage and led to drug use. It took a while for Christie to figure out it was her prenatal drinking that led to his difficulties. Her son had fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and needed specialized help. Christie never realized that her drinking would have such a terrible effect.

Christie decided to speak out because the myth that this only happens to certain women is wrong. It pushes middle-class women even further into the closet. At least the First Nations women talk about it and admit it. White women just pretend their kids have learning disabilities. It’s even more shame-based.

Research shows alcohol consumption is rising among all ages of women — from underage girls to their grandmothers, women between 54 and 64. Heavy drinking — and this can mean more than five glasses at one time for women — is no longer a moral or social problem. It is a health issue.

David Jernigan, head of Baltimore’s Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, says: “If you drink before age 15, you’re four times more likely to become alcohol dependent than those who wait until they’re 21; seven times more likely to be in a motor-vehicle crash after drinking; eight times more likely to experience violence after drinking; 11 times more likely to experience other unintentional injuries like drowning and falls.”

What can be done about this growing, pervasive problem? Experts say increasing alcohol use needs to get onto the public radar and be treated as a serious health issue by all levels of government. Data should be developed to keep track of alcohol-related injuries, assaults, emergency room visits and impaired driving charges so we can better monitor the problem.

Women should consume no more than two drinks most days (up to 10 a week), while men should have no more than three a day (up to 15 a week). Importantly, these guidelines have the support of major alcohol manufacturers.

Countries such as Australia, New Zealand and many in Europe conduct random breathalyzer tests, even if there is no suspicion the driver has been drinking. This has led to a 15 to 20 per cent improvement in some countries’ rates of death due to impaired driving; it’s something that provincial governments should strongly consider.

Alcohol affects women in different ways from men: they are typically smaller and the product gets into their bloodstream sooner. Alcohol addiction isn’t discussed enough because of the stigma. But with more input from governments and the medical community we can stem the problem.

In other words, this is something women need to start thinking about. Alcohol isn’t something that makes you merry; it can mar your relations with your friends, husband and children. It can inexorably change your life. For the worse.