This is a staff editorial from the Daily Barometer, Oregon State University’s award-winning student newspaper. It argues that underage drinking is not a problem. Underage drinking is not a problem. The problematic situation is over-consumption. This is a result of our society’s unhealthy relationship with alcohol. Overconsumption is everywhere in today’s America. Drinking is but …
Crafting effective college alcohol policies that protect the health and life of students is harder than it might appear. That’s because what first appears to be an easy solution fails. I. Ineffective College Alcohol Policies Scare Students Some colleges use scare tactics. They stress the horrible things that could happen as a result of alcohol …
Newspaper editor Fil Gravatte explains here how to go about to reducing underage alcohol abuse. Resources on the topic follow his piece. I suppose we can argue that it’s ignorance or just plain human nature. When people are held within boundaries, they always seem to cross the lines. They explore the forbidden and break …
Giving alcohol to a minor can seem harmless, especially when the quantity is small. However the negative consequences to the person who supplies it can be both serious and permanent. Students preparing for some careers may be blocked if they are found guilty of unlawfully dealing with a minor or similar charge. Such a conviction …
Public policy in the U.S. calls for complete alcohol abstinence by all people under age 21. However, it’s highly unsuccessful. Indeed, the policy has actually been counterproductive. That is, causing more problems than it prevents. We absolutely must replace failed programs with effective alcohol education. Alcohol education programs are virtually mandated by law to present …
There will never be enough enforcement agents to prevent underage alcohol purchases. So says an official of the NC Alcohol Law Enforcement agency. The problem can never be solved by hiring ever more agents. But we must have ways of preventing underage alcohol purchases. Fortunately, Alaska has thought creatively and uses an economic incentive to …
As a teenager, writer Courtney Love Gavin suggested the value of a learner’s permit for drinking safely. She argued that we issue learner permits to help people drive safely. Here is her opinion piece. The transformation of going from a child to an adult does not happen overnight. It is a metamorphosis that happens …
Journalist Jeff Frantz reports that Europeans learn responsible drinking. Thus young Europeans are more responsible about drinking than those in the U.S. Here’s his piece. The 21st-birthday bar tour — it’s a staple of American life. You blow out the candles, go to a bar, drink, vomit, pass out. You laugh the next day when …
Compliance checks or stings for underage alcohol sales are very popular. However, to be legal, they must be done without entrapment. Basically, entrapment is inducing people to commit a crime they are not “predisposed” to commit and would not ordinarily commit. The Department of Justice stresses that “Entrapment is a complete defense to a criminal charge.”1 …
Here is a list of what appear to be grassroots organizations against underage drinking. In reality, all of these groups were organized and supported by the temperance-oriented Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. They’re part of its nation-wide program to influence alcohol policy at both the state and federal levels. Pennsylvanians Against Underage Drinking. Texans Standing Tall …
