Current epidemiological data on drinking... Wow

[Superman]

Some interesting information here. From Kaplan and Saddock's Synopsis of Psychiatry 10th Ed, 2008

[McC]

Men are much more likely than women to be binge drinkers and heavy drinkers.

Might be biology-related. Men have a significantly higher tolerance to alcohol than do women, and consequently might be more inclined to push that tolerance.

About 70 percent of adults with college degrees are current drinkers, compared with only 40 percent of those with less than a high school education.

Not remotely surprising, viewed from a simple economic POV. College grads are more likely to be in higher-paying jobs than dropouts, and thus will have more money to spend on buying expensive alcoholic drinks as beverages (as opposed to binging, see below).

Binge alcohol use rates are similar across different levels of education.

Also not surprising, but this is separate from economics. People who want to get totally smashed can do so on ultra-cheap beer just as easily as they can on expensive cocktails. The motives for binging tend to be cross-class.

[Darth Wong]

Alcohol is the genteel drug. Unlike most drugs, it is socially acceptable among the upper classes (actually, it is socially encouraged, to the point that you may feel excluded if you don't join in).

[Frank Hipper]

Alcohol is the genteel drug. Unlike most drugs, it is socially acceptable among the upper classes (actually, it is socially encouraged, to the point that you may feel excluded if you don't join in).

Interestingly enough, no drug has the behavior altering effects that alcohol does.

You can talk to a stoned person and might not realise they're stoned; you can never hide a drunk.

I've been around people on heroin and not realised it until informed of the fact! They just seemed a little whiny and unmotivated...

When a drunk walks into a room, everyone knows it, instantly.

[Superman]

Interestingly enough, no drug has the behavior altering effects that alcohol does.

You can talk to a stoned person and might not realise they're stoned; you can never hide a drunk.

I've been around people on heroin and not realised it until informed of the fact! They just seemed a little whiny and unmotivated...

When a drunk walks into a room, everyone knows it, instantly.

It's true; alcohol has the distinction of being the only mind altering substance that negatively affects every system in the body. People are also far more likely to go out and get into trouble after drinking than smoking pot. Stoners usually have a hard time getting up off of the couch to get the Doritos, forget about raping someone or driving like madman.

The only thing that cracks me up about stoners is that they're usually convinced that pot is actually beneficial for their health. While it's true that alcohol is far more destructive, drunks don't generally go around trying to convince everyone that drinking is good for them.

[McC]

While it's true that alcohol is far more destructive, drunks don't generally go around trying to convince everyone that drinking is good for them.

Well, hold on there. Drinking a glass or two of alcohol per day is good for you. Drinking to excess/drunkenness isn't, though, obviously.

[Lord Zentei]

This list seems to repeadedly switch between discussig binge drinking on the one hand and "alcohol use" on the other. That seems more than a little misleading, IMHO.

[Superman]

While it's true that alcohol is far more destructive, drunks don't generally go around trying to convince everyone that drinking is good for them.

Well, hold on there. Drinking a glass or two of alcohol per day is good for you. Drinking to excess/drunkenness isn't, though, obviously.

I was referring specifically to alcoholics, not casual drinkers.

[Superman]

This list seems to repeadedly switch between discussig binge drinking on the one hand and "alcohol use" on the other. That seems more than a little misleading, IMHO.

It's actually designed for psychiatrists who possess the training to interpret such information. I didn't find anything that seems misleading in it, but I probably should have clarified this.

[McC]

I was referring specifically to alcoholics, not casual drinkers.

Yeah, I figured what with the "drunks don't go around..." part of the comment. Still, it's worth mentioning in a thread like this that the drug does indeed have some health benefit in moderation, I think.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Might be biology-related. Men have a significantly higher tolerance to alcohol than do women, and consequently might be more inclined to push that tolerance.

No, that's really quite unlikely, as Binge drinking among girls in college has been skyrocketing for the past several years. There were cultural reasons to discourage it beforehand, and they're rapidly disappearing.

[McC]

No, that's really quite unlikely, as Binge drinking among girls in college has been skyrocketing for the past several years. There were cultural reasons to discourage it beforehand, and they're rapidly disappearing.

Ah, okay. Though I wonder if these trends persist post-college. Do you perchance have any data on that?

[Superman]

Might be biology-related. Men have a significantly higher tolerance to alcohol than do women, and consequently might be more inclined to push that tolerance.

No, that's really quite unlikely, as Binge drinking among girls in college has been skyrocketing for the past several years. There were cultural reasons to discourage it beforehand, and they're rapidly disappearing.

I think most clinicians I've heard speak on this would agree. Binge drinking is something that is promoted in college party settings, for example, and one doesn't necessarily have to be an alcoholic to engage in this behavior.

Tolerance is one of the hallmarks of alcoholism, and is considered to be a genetic marker of the disease.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

No, that's really quite unlikely, as Binge drinking among girls in college has been skyrocketing for the past several years. There were cultural reasons to discourage it beforehand, and they're rapidly disappearing.

Ah, okay. Though I wonder if these trends persist post-college. Do you perchance have any data on that?

Not offhand, I'm afraid, though binge drinking is a behaviour highly associated with college in western countries.

[Frank Hipper]

Interestingly enough, no drug has the behavior altering effects that alcohol does.

You can talk to a stoned person and might not realise they're stoned; you can never hide a drunk.

I've been around people on heroin and not realised it until informed of the fact! They just seemed a little whiny and unmotivated...

When a drunk walks into a room, everyone knows it, instantly.

It's true; alcohol has the distinction of being the only mind altering substance that negatively affects every system in the body. People are also far more likely to go out and get into trouble after drinking than smoking pot. Stoners usually have a hard time getting up off of the couch to get the Doritos, forget about raping someone or driving like madman.

The only thing that cracks me up about stoners is that they're usually convinced that pot is actually beneficial for their health. While it's true that alcohol is far more destructive, drunks don't generally go around trying to convince everyone that drinking is good for them.

The thing that a so many of these pro-weed people ignore is the term moderation; the harm from smoking in moderation is negligible (negligible, not non-existant), but all too often that's ignored.
Strawmanning limited health benefits in certain situations to mean that it's good for you anytime, all the time is coupled to this, and, tah-dah.

Then again, you have reports from time-to-time about red wine and such having benefits for cardiac health, too, and you do get drunks saying booze is good for you.

[Glocksman]

Then again, you have reports from time-to-time about red wine and such having benefits for cardiac health, too, and you do get drunks saying booze is good for you

True, but personally I consider MD 20/20, Thunderbird or Night Train Express to be closer to paint thinner or antifreeze than to a decent Shiraz, Merlot, or Grenache.

[Superman]

The thing that a so many of these pro-weed people ignore is the term moderation; the harm from smoking in moderation is negligible (negligible, not non-existant), but all too often that's ignored.
Strawmanning limited health benefits in certain situations to mean that it's good for you anytime, all the time is coupled to this, and, tah-dah.

Then again, you have reports from time-to-time about red wine and such having benefits for cardiac health, too, and you do get drunks saying booze is good for you.

There are many substances that have clear medical benefits, but are considered to be unhealthy out of a medical context. Cocaine, for example, has a medicinal function, as do amphetamines, nitrous oxide, etc.

Lots of medicinal cannabis advocates don't actually want medicinal cannabis, they want the right to get baked on a daily basis. I have no problem with that, but let's stop pretending it's all about medicine and just legalize the stuff.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

The thing that a so many of these pro-weed people ignore is the term moderation; the harm from smoking in moderation is negligible (negligible, not non-existant), but all too often that's ignored.
Strawmanning limited health benefits in certain situations to mean that it's good for you anytime, all the time is coupled to this, and, tah-dah.

Then again, you have reports from time-to-time about red wine and such having benefits for cardiac health, too, and you do get drunks saying booze is good for you. :?

Well, addiction to alcohol is really a variable issue. I don't buy alcohol for myself, so I'm the ultimate social drinker, which has never had consequences for me, mostly because I'm extremely moderate. I set my limit at the amount I can drink and still write fiction afterwards without making to many spelling errors to render it impossible to continue--which can be as high as several shots (I loathe beer with a true passion), but I'm genetically predisposed to be very alcohol resistant.

Conversely, I have had to deal with a friend who lived with me for about a year, in the grip of extreme hallucinations (I'm not sure if it was the alcohol or the thujone), who had just slammed down about 1/3rd of a 136 proof bottle of premium French-made imported absinthe (which I sipped diluted with a ratio of three parts water, usually to the amount of about half a shot, with sugar added). She was blabbering on about how she was so sad that she didn't have a soul and hiding from the bedroom mirrors like they were windows to Hell. Which is no surprise considering she'd just had up to 250ml of 136 proof over the space of, hmm, eight hours tops? And weighed about 105lbs at the time..

Then again she was Irish to the core. I spent most of the night holding her, feeding her water to keep her from dehydrating, and keeping her away from more alcohol--yes, she wanted more--and generally taking care of her until she collapsed. She wasn't just hung over when she woke up again--she was still drunk. It may be something about absinthe but she was in a state of drunkenness for about 48 hours. Fortunately it was the bloody weekend and I didn't have work..

She didn't vomit a single time.

She'd insisted to me before that she never vomited, no matter how much she drank, but I didn't really believe her until that night. That much alcohol might have killed people with her body weight. Of course she was an extremely exprienced drinker (her parents were the type to let her grab a beer out of the fridge at the age of nine or ten), and tolerance is a big factor.

It taught me a lesson I'll never forget, though, and I'm always watching my consumption as a result of it. A pity that most other people don't seem to get the message. Hell, it taught her a lesson, too. She didn't drink for nearly three months after that and the next time she did it was in a restaurant where she waved off an offer of a second round of a particular mixed drink there which had about two and a half shots of fairly strong liquor in it, with me even bringing the matter up. I was happy that my sleepless night had produced some productive change in her behaviour.

[Darth Wong]

While it's true that alcohol is far more destructive, drunks don't generally go around trying to convince everyone that drinking is good for them.

Well, hold on there. Drinking a glass or two of alcohol per day is good for you. Drinking to excess/drunkenness isn't, though, obviously.

Did you know that some studies have concluded that the "health benefits of red wine" are almost entirely due to chemicals in the grapes, rather than the alcohol? And that these health benefits are stronger among people whose diet is deficient in fruits? Other studies have argued that the correlation between drinking and health is statistical junk because people who get very ill stop drinking. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/377381.stm

Whenever I see a study that just happens to support what people really want to be true, I have to wonder just how empirical the methods really were.

[McC]

Did you know that some studies have concluded that the "health benefits of red wine" are almost entirely due to chemicals in the grapes, rather than the alcohol? And that these health benefits are stronger among people whose diet is deficient in fruits?

Yeah, I remember that. There've been three phases of information on the matter, as far as I know. My recollection of the sequence is:
- "red wine is good for you!"
- "it's not the alcohol, but the fruity chemicals in red wine that are good for you!"
- "actually, a number of alcoholic beverages are good for you; it does indeed appear to be the alcohol!"

Wiki summates it, and each of the bullet points here has at least one source (for those of you who scoff at Wikipedia).

[Admiral Valdemar]

I find the binge drinking factoid to be totally unfounded here. It seems teenage girls and young women are far more prone to piss-ups than men, same goes with taking up smoking too. But then we are the binge drinking capital of the EU.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Yeah, I remember that. There've been three phases of information on the matter, as far as I know. My recollection of the sequence is:
- "red wine is good for you!"
- "it's not the alcohol, but the fruity chemicals in red wine that are good for you!"
- "actually, a number of alcoholic beverages are good for you; it does indeed appear to be the alcohol!"

Wiki summates it, and each of the bullet points here has at least one source (for those of you who scoff at Wikipedia).

This has been known for a bloody long time, though. To quote from Churchill, "a single glass of champagne imparts a feeling of exhilaration. The nerves are braced, the imagination is agreeably stirred, the wits become more nimble. A bottle produces a contrary effect. Excess causes a
comatose insensibility."

Anyone who drinks more than four shots, or four glasses of wine, or four bottles of beer, in a twenty-four hour period, is liable to be a stupid and abusive fool. A glass of champagne with dinner, howevere, is quite the pleasant indulgence.

[Superman]

I find the binge drinking factoid to be totally unfounded here. It seems teenage girls and young women are far more prone to piss-ups than men, same goes with taking up smoking too. But then we are the binge drinking capital of the EU.

These stats are probably different in your country. The table I posted represents the most current information for the United States.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Good point. I suck at reading. I need to find recent reports on the UK, because here it's an epidemic and it's mainly teenage girls now. I knew some tomboys on my dorm at uni (okay, it was me, another guy, and half a dozen wild girls) so if that's the standard, the whole nation must import a sizeable chunk of booze just for them.

[TheDarkling]

. But then we are the binge drinking capital of the EU.

Alas no.

Unsurprisingly the Irish are top followed by the Finns.

We just get the bronze.

We come in second in the individual women's (17-30) event with 33% being binge drinkers, but taking the gold is again those rascally Irish with an impressive 57%.

We were rather lacklustre in the individual mens from what I recall (something like 6th or 7th) but I can't find the figures off hand.