Do you think the United States has an alcohol problem? If yes, what should be done about it?

Question

In the United States the most commonly abused substance is alcohol. Do you think this is an issue, and if yes what should be done about it? Would raising the drinking age help? Would lowering the drinking age help? There are countries where teenagers drink at home with there families and that’s the extent of drinking. Binge drinking in those countries is extremely rare, and very frowned upon. Is the problem that we glamorize drinking so much? It seems like every occasion is a reason to drink. In my region especially (the Midwest) binge drinking seems to be the norm. I’m from North Dakota and we are the 4th drunkest state in the U.S. It’s especially evident in small towns. I’ve been to birthday parties for toddlers and seen individual adults crushing a case of beer in one sitting (talk about increased tolerance). I’m a very very rare drinker so maybe that’s why I’m so shocked to see this? There will be times at events where I won’t drink alcohol at all, or if I do it’s one drink and I get SO MUCH CRAP FOR THIS ALL THE TIME! Personally I don’t ever “need” alcohol. I can have just as much fun without it, if not more fun because I know I’m making sound decisions, I’m not affecting my health or safety, or the safety of those around me. I personally don’t like to feel or be impaired and I don’t feel like I should have to defend my decision to be a sober person. I’m sorry this is starting to stray from the question. I don’t try to judge people who drink differently than I choose to, even though I get judged for not drinking. But drinking doesn’t just affect the person who drinks. It becomes other people’s problems when there’s drunk drivers on the road, when someone gets in legal trouble because of alcohol, when alcohol use affects their decision making abilities as well as their mental health, and it affects families and friends when someone has medical problems because of long term alcohol use. How should we handle alcohol in our country? I put the under controversy corner because I’m guessing people have strong feelings one way the other about alcohol. Share your thoughts, I want to know what other think about this.

Accepted Answer

I think DUI laws need to be stricter. Mandatory 7 days in jail on top of increased fines for first offenders.

Answer

I think the drinking age should be lowered to 18 however that does just start people drinking even earlier (I was 15). But once I got to 20 I was like okay, done this I’m bored now. Now I only drink at meal times and for celebrations/gatherings. But as far as I’m aware I don’t believe the whole US has a binge drinking problem.

Answer

Yess. We have very high rates of binge drinking and alcoholism. I believe it's due at least in part to social drinking with older family members not being a part of the culture here, and the drinking age being so high. 
It exacerbates a taboo culture around drinking AND ensures that young adults  don't know how to drink responsibly. They were never taught. 
Shaming people for not drinking is a big problem too. I think that's slowly starting to change, though, as more awareness for non-drinkers is on the rise, especially with respect to alcoholics. I read recently an article about bartenders who are starting to make glamorous  non-alcoholic cocktails to make people feel included in the fun

Answer

In Scotland the drinking age is 18 but our parents generation was very relaxed about us drinking and most of us were drinking casually from the age of 16 in our houses with friends etc. I think raising it would be idiotic because kids will always find a way to get alcohol and go out their way to hide it which is problematic. I think there needs to be more education on the issue but trying to ban it in certain scenarios is just daft. Your country is batshit for DUIs though like yall need to cut that shit out 😂 ❤️

Answer

I think drinking age should be 18. If you can enlist in the military you should be able to have a beer. I enjoy drinking, pre-pregnancy I would enjoy a couple of drinks every week. But I also don’t need alcohol to have a good time. I’m not actually a fan of getting drunk, and even less of a fan of drinking to a point where I’ll have a hangover the next day. But a glass of wine or beer with dinner, or even the occasional cocktail is a nice way to end the day. My husband and I enjoy going to wine and beer tasting. There are lots of vineyards and breweries near us. We did a really awesome whiskey tasting at the Highland games last year. We genuinely enjoy the taste of these drinks.
Alcohol is included in most of my family gatherings but I don’t ever recall people getting sloppy drunk. Alcohol was never a mysterious thing growing, it was just an adult drink. I think because I thought of alcohol as something mundane I never got the appeal of underaged drinking.
I think the US does need to change its relationship with alcohol. Alcohol and party culture are glorified, and we celebrated over indulgence of both. Look how successful “The Hangover” serious was, we celebrate over indulging and loosing control. So we can’t be surprised when (especially our young) adults turn around and emulate the behavior they see in pop culture.

Answer

I haven't had a drink in 6 years...I still get shit about it from friends and family. we don't go out with people because it seems like all everyone wants to do is drink all the time

Answer

I think most countries probably have the same issue. In Australia it's pretty integrated into our culture.

Answer

More strict dui laws, drinking age won't make a difference, they've had it at 18, 19 and now 21. I think they should have some sort of credit system in place so if someone is intoxicated, they won't be afraid to call a cab to get home safely if say they lost their cell phone and wallet at some point in the evening and have no money for a cab and no phone for uber. And it should be available to underage people with no punishment as well. I think drinking is made out to be sexy in all forms of advertising. You can say drink responsibly until you're blue in the face and it doesn't matter when you've got the dos equis dude saying stay thirsty, or scantily clad ladies hanging all over the dude with the money, buying the expensive vodka at the bar. I'll be the first person to admit, if something is pink and sparkly, I fucking want it! They wrap booze in a sexy little package and seem shocked that kids binge drink and are responsible for 20% of automobile accidents and deaths in the United States.  Also, it's not federal law, but it's store policy where I work to card everyone in the group, if everyone in every store picked up this policy it would help to cut back on underage drinking. Kids will find a way to get it, this is true, however, if everyone took it more seriously and took an active approach to this, it would cut down on so many problems, from accidents, to future dependency.

Answer

Where has a problem but you just hear that USA all the time

Answer

IF the drinking age was to be lowered, I think the driving age should be raised. For example, in Germany you have to be 17 to get your permit and have to drive with an adult, and then 18 to be able to drive unrestricted. I don't think the drinking age should be lowered at all, just because people do something doesn't mean it should be legal.

Do you think the United States has an alcohol problem? If yes, what should be done about it?

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