It's an epidemic and is getting worse. Half of all HS aged kids drink this drug (alcohol) and half the alcohol they get comes directly from their parents. The average age of first use of this drug is now 12 years old. Something's got to give.

Here's a Drug Facts Label (for the drug alcohol) you can use to convince your kids why you will not allow them to drink.

http://www.alcoholthenarcotic.org/Drug_Facts_Label.html

Here's an org working to solve the ills created by our constantly graduating addicts into society.

www.alcoholthenarcotic.org

Here's a petition to sign to help ban alcohol adveritsing which is aimed at telling children that alcohol use is an acceptable thing to do:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/ban-alcohol-advertising-in-the-usa.html

UK people can sign this one:

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/classifyalcohol/


CHEERS

Isn't there really an underlying psychological presence that leads people to substance abuse that needs to be addressed first?

I just think the "peer pressure" thing has been overplayed. People who are satisfied with their lives don't get trashed constantly... unless getting trashed is the only thing that makes them feel satisfied.

I agree with you pancakes....when kids are using at that age there is something going on. Alcohol is an escape for some people. My sons have friends who drink just to get trashed, they choose not to (for that I'm very grateful) and I know these kids and they are not happy at all..

And if they get themselves killed off, it's population control.

maybe so but that's kinda sad if it's someone you know and watched grow up... I have seen such a thing and it's actually more tragic than population control.

!BINGO! Most people-of all ages turn to drinking and drunking to self medicate-to bury deeper problems

When those same people spend some time in rehab they usually begin to discover the true source of their self medicating and learn to work it through to lead a clean life-not easy

Also there is phyc dependency and physical dependency-two diff things

Some drugs your body becomes hooked on and some your mind becomes hooked on

As far as advertising towards young adults and teenagers. I have to say that I don't see that they do what I have seen myself it is the other way around. They have the commercials that are against teens drinking and driving and getting smashed to be cool.

I see why some may want to pull adds that are geared towards teenagers telling them it is okay to drink but I don't see those. What I see are the ads are geared towards more adults.

Alcohol ads are like Cigarette ads they are here to stay regardless.

But........... I do agree if there are any ads out there telling teenagers it is the cool thing to do then sure they should be jerked in a heartbeat.

I do agree with Plastic_Pancakes teenager's that are in fact addicted to these things as well as drugs. There is a whole underlying issue that seriously needs to be taken a look at first. I assure you it is not just to make them look cool......

That and the education is very small when compared with other substances. I remember in school the big thing was meth, then it was weed, we were taught the whole gateway drug garbage with marijuana...meth just happened to be the most popular drug there. It is a combination of issues that get slapped onto other issues creating an even bigger issue that wasn't even present to begin with.

Teach, learn, grow. They advertised cigarettes to me when I was a kid through a cartoon, didn't make me smoke and I didn't even start smoking until well after those commercials were made illegal. If a kid is educated enough about a substance they will either try it or they won't, you can't control it much further than teaching.

You can encase civilization inside a padded room, but even then, they will find a way to kill themselves. We are too busy wanting to protect that we don't even think of trying to educate, and it doesn't help that most of the topics are taboo. I suppose it is easy when you are lead by a financial leash and only able to see a small percentage of the things available, don't depend on other people to protect you, your children, or your family.

and what about the other epidemics,,,detachment due to video game, detachment due to excessive sex and violence in the media, detachment due to cell phones and texting,,,,detachment due to no parents in the homes,,,,,

Maybe if kids felt part of something, they wouldnt feel such need to find outward ways to make themself feel good.

It is sad to hear that so many are turning to drugs(amongst other things) and I hope as a society we get ourselves in check before it gets much worse.

we need more laws to help save the people from themselves

Laws dont seem to work so well without the personal desire for people to (dare I say it?) do right.

If all that matters is what feels good to me, and I can get away with it,, Im not likely to care what any law says about it. People who murder and steal and embezzle,,they do these things because they WANT to and feel they wont get caught.

I think if we could find a way to do something about peoples DESIRE to disregard anything other than what feels good or gets them immediate gain,,,,laws would hardly even be required,,,,

but OH,, we are only human so I doubt we will come up with such a way

Laws dont seem to work so well without the personal desire for people to (dare I say it?) do right.

If all that matters is what feels good to me, and I can get away with it,, Im not likely to care what any law says about it. People who murder and steal and embezzle,,they do these things because they WANT to and feel they wont get caught.

I think if we could find a way to do something about peoples DESIRE to disregard anything other than what feels good or gets them immediate gain,,,,laws would hardly even be required,,,,

but OH,, we are only human so I doubt we will come up with such a way

if you got 12 year olds getting drunk I would blame the parents

a 12 year old should not have enough unsupervised time to be able to get drunk

but one can get drunk any time of day or night once they obtain the alcohol,,,,most teens dont want to hang out with parents for extended times and I dont think they should,,, BUT, parents do need to spend some time together instilling values in their kids and giving them the confidence to stand their ground

Not sure anyone took a look at the sites I provided...

Let's say a product was introduced today that the AMA would categorize in this way would you want it advertised on TV during sporting events that draw a huge teen/tween audiences? Would you allow this product to be sold without a Drug Facts Label? Would you give it to your kids because you "want them drinking at home instead of out somewhere"???

Think about it.

I wrote the AMA and asked them what alcohol should be categorized as...

Here's their response:

"Thank you for your request which was forwarded to me from Dr. Palmisano. The American Medical Association, as does most of the scientific community, considers beverage alcohol (known as ethanol) to be a drug.

It is usually classified as a central nervous system depressant although some of its initial effects on drinkers are to provide some stimulating effects. However, as blood alcohol levels increase in the body, the depressant effects become dominant.

Other depressant drugs include barbiturates and opiates (e.g., heroin).

Here is one of our policies which directly addresses your questions.

H-30.972 Alcohol Abuse and the War on Drugs.

Our AMA (1) supports documenting the strong correlation between alcohol abuse and other substance abuse; (2) reaffirms the concept that alcohol is an addictive drug and its abuse is one of the nation's leading drug problems; and (3) encourages state medical societies to work actively with drug task forces and study committees in their respective states to assure that their scope of study includes recognition of the strong correlation between alcohol abuse and other substance abuse and recommendations to decrease the immense number of health, safety, and social problems associated with alcohol abuse. (Sub. Res. 97, I-89; Reaffirmed: Sunset Report, A-00)

Please feel free to contact me should you have any further questions and thank you for contacting us. "

Sincerely,

Richard A Yoast, PhD

Director - Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse

American Medical Association

515 North State Street

Chicago, IL 60610

I agree

This addiction to video games is crazy

People are finding new ways to escape reality-to push down feelings and not have to be in true social situations-its kinda scary to me

Esp. those who spend hours doing it--the kids should be outside playing-getting the fresh air

I never had a game system in my home and I do see a diff between my kids and the kids who are constantly doing it

I also-thank god-was able to be a stay at home mom for them-We made sure of that when we married

My final stance is that drugs are equal to power tools.
No drug has an inherent value over the individual. Rather, what the individual uses that substance for governs their relationship with it. Education is the only way to make people aware of the substance that they are ingesting. Beside that, trying to make any substance illegal is absolute madness.

There is no way to protect an individual from his or herself. I think that Quietman was making an Orwell reference with what he said. No individual or group should be responsible for determining what is and is not acceptable for personal intake at any age.

All this instills mentally in the individual is that personal choice becomes irrelevant or secondary to the governing hand, and that responsibility is not a personal issue.

And I'll drink, legally, to that.

Alcohol use is something kids learn form the adults in their lives or the ones conspiculously absent. That High school, college, sports parties, and the military even employers promote the use of alcohol to minors and young adults as being part of being sucessful, fun, and mature.

More Vets have life long problems with alcohol than battle injuries.

I agree with Quiet that if a kid is left alone with uncontrolled access to booze they are going to drink; especially if they see their parents or siblings drink. And the consequences are lasting disability. It should be felony child abuse to give a minor alcohol.

There are way too many people trying to pass as functioning alcoholics and there is no such thing. If you drink you are being a lousy parent because it is a 24/7/360 job you can not do properly under the influence.

There are many places where children consume alcohol as part of meals. There are also studies about the health benefits of wine. The issue is not mere USE of alcohol in my opinion, but the ABUSE of it. I dont necessarily believe that allowing a child alcohol is in and of itself abusive, it depends upon the supervision and the intent.

Where we come into problems is with the ATTITUDE so many adults pass on about the purpose of the alcohol. If the example given or encouraged is alcohol as a means to be DRUNK,,it is very damaging. If the example given or encouraged is that alcohol is something consumed in cautious moderation as a partner to food,,,,this is something different.

I remembr when I was a kid out bird huntin with my dad

we came across some kind of a berry bush. dunno what kind.

but all around that bush were birds and squirrels and bugs and critters all passed out and wobbly

my dad said the berries on the bush had fermented on the vine and aminals were coming from all over to get fukced up on it. they didnt even hunt each other. there was a bobcat just sitting and drooling, eyes all glazed over, right next to a passed out rabbit

so it's not just human nature to want to get intoxicated. I guess it applies to all of mother nature