While I suppose it is a useful hint to turn your passed-out friends on their sides so they don’t choke on their own vomit, it might be even more helpful to suggest to those same friends that there’s a space somewhere between “drunk” and “on the verge of death” that might be better to occupy.
This article appears in Aug 11-17, 2011.
Unfortunately, our current drinking-age policies attempt to flout the reality of nascent young-adult drinking rather than manage it — and help guide new drinkers to manage it — responsibly. I think this largely explains the prevalence of binge drinking among young adults today. The law is effectively *encouraging* them to do it if they’re going to start drinking before 21 at all, and it’s a rare person indeed who never lets a drop of alcohol pass their lips before they’re 21.
As long as the drinking age is 21, young adults who choose to start their drinking experiences under age 21 will continue to be legally motivated to do so by obtaining the strongest booze possible and consuming it as quickly as possible, so they can kick off a significant and long-lasting buzz and then dispose of the evidence before they get caught. This is how they “learn to drink”, establishing a pattern of consumption that often continues even after they are of legal drinking age. Without the experience to know firsthand how the effects of alcohol (especially hard liquor) can continue building long after it is consumed, so it’s far to easy to find yourself drunker than you ever intended to get.
What if young adults were allowed to drink moderately at a younger age and given no legal motivation for hard and fast drinking to avoid getting busted? What if they could at least purchase and consume moderate-ABV beer, coolers, and wine starting at, say, age 18 or 19? By the time they’re allowed to buy the hard stuff at 21, they’ll have dipped a toe in the waters, and no legal influence encouraging them to start binge-drinking hard liquor. This is how it works in many European countries, apparently to great success. Perhaps it’s time we try a similar approach here.