According to the American
Association of Pediatrics “Binge drinking is
the most common pattern of alcohol consumption among high school youth who
drink alcohol and is strongly associated with a wide range of other health risk
behaviors”( Smith, Naimi, et al 1 ). Binge drinking can be defined as drinking five or more
drinks during one occasion for men, and four or more drinks for women. ( Smith, Naimi, et al 1 ).
Binge drinking is absurd because it lowers your quality of health. Most teens and young college students don’t even know that five or more drinks is considered binge drinking because it’s so common in today’s society, overall binge drinking is a maximizing epidemic. Throughout recent years binge drinking has increased among society, though its concept can date back to ancient times. For thousands of years, fermented grain, fruit juice and honey have been used to make alcohol (Alcohol: A Short History). The beginning of alcohol can date back to 100,000 years and was located somewhere near the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. Egyptian history talks about beer in 9000 B.C. Evidence show that early alcoholic drinks were also created in China around 7000 B.C. (Alcohol: A Short History). In 6000 to 4000 B.C. the concept of creating wine from grapes began. (Who Invented Alcohol?). Also in India around 3000 and 2000 B.C. an alcoholic beverage called sura, was used and made from distilled rice. In the Greek history early signs of excessive drinking can be found in Greek literature. Native American civilizations created alcoholic beverages in pre-Columbian times. In the sixteenth century, alcohol was used largely for medicinal purposes. And in the beginning of the eighteenth century, British parliament passed a law encouraging the use of grain for distilling spirits. This led to a surplus in the market of cheap spirits and reached an all-time high in the mid-eighteenth century. Around that time in Britain, gin consumption reached 18 million gallons and alcoholism became widespread (Alcohol: A Short History).
As you may now know, alcohol has been around for centuries and a problem all around the world. Binge drinking in earlier times used to be described as heavy drinking for a matter of days in a row. Binge drinking is now considered as having multiple drinks in one sitting (Berridge, Herring et al 1). A major time in American history that shows a prime example of binge drinking and the problems it can cause would be the time before the prohibition era.
Binge drinking is absurd because it lowers your quality of health. Most teens and young college students don’t even know that five or more drinks is considered binge drinking because it’s so common in today’s society, overall binge drinking is a maximizing epidemic. Throughout recent years binge drinking has increased among society, though its concept can date back to ancient times. For thousands of years, fermented grain, fruit juice and honey have been used to make alcohol (Alcohol: A Short History). The beginning of alcohol can date back to 100,000 years and was located somewhere near the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. Egyptian history talks about beer in 9000 B.C. Evidence show that early alcoholic drinks were also created in China around 7000 B.C. (Alcohol: A Short History). In 6000 to 4000 B.C. the concept of creating wine from grapes began. (Who Invented Alcohol?). Also in India around 3000 and 2000 B.C. an alcoholic beverage called sura, was used and made from distilled rice. In the Greek history early signs of excessive drinking can be found in Greek literature. Native American civilizations created alcoholic beverages in pre-Columbian times. In the sixteenth century, alcohol was used largely for medicinal purposes. And in the beginning of the eighteenth century, British parliament passed a law encouraging the use of grain for distilling spirits. This led to a surplus in the market of cheap spirits and reached an all-time high in the mid-eighteenth century. Around that time in Britain, gin consumption reached 18 million gallons and alcoholism became widespread (Alcohol: A Short History).
As you may now know, alcohol has been around for centuries and a problem all around the world. Binge drinking in earlier times used to be described as heavy drinking for a matter of days in a row. Binge drinking is now considered as having multiple drinks in one sitting (Berridge, Herring et al 1). A major time in American history that shows a prime example of binge drinking and the problems it can cause would be the time before the prohibition era.
In the early 1900’s alcohol consumption was so high it was creating problems throughout society. Men became abusive from all the alcohol and work wasn’t getting done to support their families (Burns, Novick 1). During the early 1900’s, the 18th amendment stopped all production of alcohol, but the enforcement of the law was hard to follow, and it was ratified by the twenty first amendment.
A very recent example of the dangers of binge drinking would include the problems that surfaced in Panama City Beach, Florida during the 2015 spring break. During the 2015 spring break, a lot of underage drinking, fighting, and crime took place. Many young adults were publically intoxicated, and the police in Panama City Beach believed that alcohol played as the key factor to the outrageous acts and violence during that break. Now, as of a year later, due to all of the binge drinking and dangerous outcomes of the previous year, Panama City Beach has seen a drastic decline in business due to how much law enforcement was needed in the 2015 year and the high risk of danger the city had. About 90 percent of the alcohol consumed by youth under the age of 21 in the United States is in the form of binge drinks (What is Binge Drinking?).
Binge
drinking does not always pertain to alcoholic drinks. Within the last few years
there has been a spike in the consumption of energy drinks. This is adding on
to the concern of the binge drinking epidemic because recent studies are showing cardiac complications due to the
excessive intake of these beverages.
Binge drinking causes problems such as
health related issues, accidental injuries, and financial
issues. The effect binge drinking has upon society in communities
is that when people binge drink sometimes they tend to damage property when out
in public areas. The effect binge drinking has on states and nations is
that it increases the chance of danger because people act differently when
drunk, and it also raises the chance people driving while
intoxicated. The effect binge drinking has on the world is that it
raises the statistics is health problems, crime, and expenses. Today, about 15 million Americans suffer from alcoholism and 40 percent of all
car accident deaths in the US involve alcohol (Alcohol: A Short History). Overall, the epidemic of binge drinking is a bigger problem than
what is on the surface.
The solution to binge drinking in the early 1900’s was to
completely prohibit any distribution and drinking of alcohol. Prohibition was
an unworkable solution because it increased the crime rate, and outraged
majority of American’s (Thornton 1). In the article Alcohol Prohibition Was a
Failure Mark Thornton wrote “Although consumption of alcohol fell at the
beginning of Prohibition, it subsequently increased. Alcohol became more
dangerous to consume; crime increased and became “organized”; the court and prison
systems were stretched to the breaking point; and corruption of public
officials was rampant.” Overall the solution of doing away with alcohol was
completely unsuccessful.
The
solutions that works best is what we currently have established which is having
rules and regulations on alcoholic beverages. There is absolutely no way that
binge drinking can be completely controlled.
A portion of the problem can be controlled by creating legal drinking
limits, and no public intoxication laws. While driving you are not allowed to
have a blood alcohol level over .08 percent. The laws are necessary because
they give people a mental note about the amount they are allowed to consume.
Camus’ beliefs can relate to this topic because the ideas of absurdity can relate to the action of binge drinking. It is absurd to drink so much in such little time because the effects it has on your body are all negative and it is overall unreasonable. This can be concluded from Camus’ beliefs that we” must learn all over to see, be attentive, and have a focused level of consciousness” (Albert Camus’ & the Absurd class video). Camus’ would most likely agree that binge drinking doesn’t allow you to have a great view on situations, attentiveness or a focused conscious. When Camus’ said “man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason” ("A Quote from The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays." Goodreads). This statement could also coincide and support reasons that Camus’ would believe binge drinking is absurd. The previous statement made by Camus’ supports the idea of his beliefs because binge drinking can relate to irrational circumstances, and some people may binge drink because they can’t find their happiness so they turn to alcohol. Also becoming out of control is just absurd because when people are drunk they do illogical things and most likely will have consequences to face when the binge drinking effects are all over with. Getting drunk from binge drinking only last a few hours so there isn’t a reasonable point or objective in doing it therefore it is a very foolish and absurd thing to do.
Camus’ beliefs can relate to this topic because the ideas of absurdity can relate to the action of binge drinking. It is absurd to drink so much in such little time because the effects it has on your body are all negative and it is overall unreasonable. This can be concluded from Camus’ beliefs that we” must learn all over to see, be attentive, and have a focused level of consciousness” (Albert Camus’ & the Absurd class video). Camus’ would most likely agree that binge drinking doesn’t allow you to have a great view on situations, attentiveness or a focused conscious. When Camus’ said “man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason” ("A Quote from The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays." Goodreads). This statement could also coincide and support reasons that Camus’ would believe binge drinking is absurd. The previous statement made by Camus’ supports the idea of his beliefs because binge drinking can relate to irrational circumstances, and some people may binge drink because they can’t find their happiness so they turn to alcohol. Also becoming out of control is just absurd because when people are drunk they do illogical things and most likely will have consequences to face when the binge drinking effects are all over with. Getting drunk from binge drinking only last a few hours so there isn’t a reasonable point or objective in doing it therefore it is a very foolish and absurd thing to do.
Binge Drinking throughout the years has
become a consistent and growing problem, especially within young adult ages.
This absence of self-control can lead to DUI’s, death from alcohol poisoning,
higher chances of a motor vehicle accidents, and many other devastating
outcomes. Binge drinking has had many negative effects upon society and their
health as well, therefore when people drink they need to limit themselves, gain
more self-control, and gradually drink.
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