Why the sudden rise in teen-age binge drinking?  

Why the sudden rise in teen-age binge drinking?  
Underage drinking is a widespread problem, often brought about by a pushback on other drugs. (Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)

BILL: "Young drunks invade emergency rooms," ran a recent headline in our own NY Daily News. "...teenage binge drinking is a key culprit behind the number of ER visits, which have skyrocketed citywide from 7,958 in 2007 to 15,620 in 2011." Dave, is booze making a comeback against pills, pot, meth and the other newer, and more glamorous forms of dope?

DR. DAVE: Dr. Christopher McStay of Bellevue Hospital's emergency department seems to reinforce that idea. "I certainly see really young people," he says, "who drank enormous amounts of alcohol and have bad withdrawal." I'm afraid we're seeing the effect of the current war on Oxycontin. As we push hard against a new drug, there's an up-tick back into binge drinking.


BILL: Isn't this the fourth or fifth "War on Drugs" you have been drafted into since your days manning the Rainbow Bus back on the streets of the University of Wisconsin back in the 70's--

DR. DAVE: How hopeful we were back then -- pulling young adults on bad acid trips off the streets and into the soft lights, Moody Blues melodies and peer "talk downs" of our traveling counseling clinic.

BILL: And yet despite the heroic efforts of people like you, Playboy Magazine refused to include Wisconsin in their annual voting on the Best Party School Trophy -- saying "Mad-town students are professional drinkers" and had long ago lost amateur competition status!

DR. DAVE: Which brings me to the research that just hit the social sciences journals this week. College-age young adults are mixing alcohol with energy drinks to keep those campus parties going longer and engage in intoxicated casual sex more frequently. Or, in the jargon of 2012, hook-up nights.

BILL: -- all tied to that other high risk right-of-passage, which we used to call "blackout sex." No memories, no regrets...

DR. DAVE: ...and no condoms either. Kathryn Miller and her research colleagues at the University of Buffalo stated the obvious: "intoxicated sex can increase the risk of unwanted outcomes, such as unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual assault and depression."

BILL: So, it's like when we would take those little white cross-top speed pills to study for midterm exams and then hit the bars afterwards for a night of power drinking!

DR. DAVE: Energy drinks are actually much worse. They act as a primer to make you WANT more, as well as be able to HOLD more, or, as the researchers said: "Alcohol mixed with energy drinks have stronger priming effects than alcohol alone… they increase the craving for another drink, so that you end up drinking more overall."

BILL: Any good ideas of where to turn for the parents who are preparing their own teenagers for post-high school decision-making?

DR. DAVE: I like the common sense approach of Ben Levenson, CEO of Origins Recovery Centers, who said "In the war on teen binge drinking, parents need to play a role. If you don't want your teen to drink then you shouldn't drink irresponsibly either. And, don't provide alcohol."

BILL: I would add, from my high school days, "DO splurge on food and non-alcoholic drinks." I'd rather buy a big old Weber grill, get some great lean hamburgers, chips by the 5 lb. bags and enough cold soda to float a rowboat than just tell them what NOT to do."

DR. DAVE: In all seriousness Bill, one of my most admired communities -- Selah, Washington -— had a long family history of German and Irish settlers. Ten years ago, they also had a byproduct of that heritage—high levels of teenage binge drinkers. But today they are one of the most successful communities at turning that around.

BILL: Do I hear a German Sausage and Irish Potato skins story looming?


DR. DAVE: They wanted to keep their kids out of drinking in the granite quarries and back roads of their rural community—so they opened the local pool and loaded tables and coolers with all those goodies, made some softly lighted places for conversations, tossed in some tunes and allowed their swimsuit-clad teens to fill the facility and binge on burgers.

BILL: Ah! How I wish Reba Krell and I had someplace like that to go to when we were sixteen!

DR. DAVE: To read more about "back to school 2012: Alcohol + Energy Drinks = High Risk Sex.


Dr. David Moore is a licensed psychologist and chemical dependency professional who is a graduate school faculty member at Argosy University's Seattle Campus. Bill Manville's most recent work, "Cool, Hip & Sober," is available at all online bookstores. A Book of the Month novelist too, Bill privately teaches "Writing To Get Published" –