Let's Teach Teens How to Drink (Wisely)

(NEWSER) - A psychiatrist who was part of a presidential committee that recommended raising the US drinking age to 21 now calls those efforts “the single most regrettable decision,” the Los Angeles Times reports. Morris Chafetz, in an opinion piece being shopped for publication, says seeing the “collateral, off-road damage”—binge drinking, date rape and the like—wrought by the1984 law has left him disillusioned. More»

Parents' habits have 'multifaceted influence' on children

(NEWSER) - Parents' drinking habits can influence those of their children, but perhaps not how you might think, a study suggests. While kids are apt to mimic boozing elders, more than one action speaks louder than words: The lax monitoring and harsh punishment that go hand in hand with alcohol abuse can also drive teenagers to the bottle, Reuters reports. More»

Half of all alcohol consumed in America drunk in binges

(NEWSER) - More revelations from the new report by the CDC on binge drinking in America: Universities may be home to the biggest binge drinkers in America, but it turns out the most frequent bingers live in retirement homes, reports Discovery . The report defines a "binge" as five drinks in one short time for a man, or four for a woman, and found that people over 65 who binged did so most often, an average of 5.5 times a month. The national average for bingers is 4.4 times per month. Binge drinkers down more than half of the booze consumed in America, notes Discovery. That number soars to 90% for young people. Click for more from the study . More»

Nation's heaviest boozers are in Wisconsin, study finds

(NEWSER) - Federal health officials have released their most detailed study yet of America's binge drinkers—and if you're a college-educated, high-earning young white man from Wisconsin, you may already be drunk by the time you read this. Researchers found that 38 million Americans, roughly a sixth of the adult population, are binge drinkers who over-indulge an average of 4.4 times a month, Bloomberg reports. A binge was defined as five or more drinks in the space of two hours for men, and four or more drinks for women. More»

New CDC research tallies up impact of excessive drinking

(NEWSER) - Are you willing to pay an extra $2 for your beer? That’s the amount, per drink, that excessive drinking costs the US in medical expenses and other societal costs including lost work productivity, car crash-related property damage, and incarceration for alcohol-related crimes, according to a new CDC calculation. Such costs amounted to nearly $224 billion in 2006, or $1.90 per alcoholic beverage, the AP reports. More»