Artigo sobre binge drinkin

College Drinking - Drinking to Get Drunk at College

11/03/19 16:57

Alcoholism
College Drinking
The Problem Is 'Binge Drinking'
By Buddy T, About.com Guide Updated May 29, 2009
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board

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The death of a 20-year-old LSU fraternity pledge in 1997 drew the nation's attention to the growing problem of drinking at colleges, or more specifically the increasing numbers of students who drink "to get drunk." The LSU student who died apparently was the victim of acute alcohol poisoning, caused by consuming a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time. This obviously was an extreme example of the problems involving drinking by college students -- otherwise it would not have made the national news -- but it is symptomatic of a continuing and growing problem throughout the college community. After the 1997 LSU incident, media attention was turned to the extent of the problem or how much information there is about it, from various viewpoints, on the Internet. Now, wait a minute, Buddy! College and drinking go together like, well, orange juice and Vodka. It's all part of the growing up process... the rites of passage. It's been going on as long as there have been colleges and it will keep going on. What's the big deal? The problem is not alcohol and drinking, but "binge" drinking. What is binge drinking? Most of us have always thought of a "binge" as a two or three day drunk. But the medical definition of the term is "five or more drinks in a row for men, four or more for women." In other words, "binge drinking" is drinking for the primary purpose of getting drunk. More and more students these days are drinking just to get "wasted." A 1993 questionnaire completed by nearly 18,000 students at 140 colleges in 40 states found that 44 percent of the students - 50 percent of the men and 39