Restriction of alcohol - Research Paper Example

Heavy consumption of alcohol for the purpose of getting intoxicated is, in modern terms, called binge drinking which is actually the consumption of five or more drinks in a row in a week. There are many reasons behind why people want to binge drink. The most important is peer pressure. People, including students, see others around doing it and they want to do it too because they are curious and because the media, bars and companies make heavy drinking sound like a fun activity. Youngsters binge drink because they want to feel grown up; elders binge drink for several other reasons which include de-stressing oneself, removing boredom, socializing, trying to stand out in crowd (hedonistic or macho drinkers), or removing depression.

Whatever the reason may be, heavy consumption of alcohol is hazardous in nature. Some disastrous effects include affected brain activity, memory and concentration; increased emotional mood swings; inability to perceive the direction of sound; dysfunctional reproductive system; increased risk of breast cancer (Doheny); affected driving leading to accidents; and, family violence. I predicted that although people might binge drink to de-stress themselves, but there are so many adverse effects related to it that people will support my hypothesis that heavy alcohol consumption must be restricted by law, and for every age.

Although there is much research done in the past regarding this issue, still there are research gaps that need to be filled in. Most of the researchers have focused on student binge drinking. Wechsler et al. conducted research on 17592 college students and found that students who binge drink suffer from serious health issues and behavioral problems that bother others at the institute. Researchers (Wechsler et al.; Chaloupka and Wechsler) support the fact that legal interventions are required to stop binge drinking in college students.

Pridemore studied how binge drinking leads to