Alcohol!!

ALCOHOL!!

It is a legal sunstance, well for over 18's anyway. So why is it seen as being so 'bad' then. Well Britain inparticularly has been given a bad name by the media where the issue of alcohol and drinking is involved. Britain is often reffered to as 'Binge Britain' or 'Booze Britain'. Drinking is a personal choice as to whether you want to do it or not many people do not drink for numerous reasons, some of them being becuase they dont like the taste, becuase they dont want to waste money on it when it could be spent on something else and for religious reasons.

Britain is one of the booziest countries in Britain, most people go out at the weekends after being at work all week and go out for drinks with friends etc etc...this is what leads to binge drinking,

Here are some facts about binge drinking

Men should drink no more than 21 units of alcohol per week
Women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week
One unit of alcohol is half a pint of beer or a small glass of wine
Binge drinking is classed as consuming more than 10 units of alcohol in a single session for men and seven units for women

I got these facts from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3121440.stm

So therfore if you go out at the weekend and have more than three or four medium sized glasses of wine in one night, which if you drink - most people drink that equivalent on a night out then you would be classed as a 'Binge drinker' even though you may never drink in the week. Other european countries have a more relaxed approach towards drinking, children are allowed to have the odd drink and they have a glass of wine making it a family and social occasion, so children when they grow up do not feel the need to rebel and binge drink such vast quantities that they pass out, like many teens here who do that and end up in hospital.

I think the introduction of the 24hour drinking license into pubs in the u.k has been a good thing, but only time will tell if the binge drinking rates will fall. i think by introducing the license people will not feel the need to go out and get absoloutleyt off their face as they wont need to as they can do it anytime they want, they wont feel forced into doing all their drinking over a certain time restraint over the weekends.

Here are some facts you may or may not know, some of them might be suprising, or then again maybe not!?

Over 90% of British adults drink alcohol
One in three men drink more than they should
One in five women drink more than they should
Teenagers are drinking earlier and more heavily than ever before
Young, white, unemployed men are more likely to abuse alcohol
Women in skilled jobs drink more heavily than other women

I obtained these facts from

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3121440.stm