More Evidence That a Lower Drinking Age Won't Solve Binge Drinking

Binge drinking is a phenomenon that knows no national borders. Although proponents of lowering the drinking age often cite Europe's relaxed laws around youth and alcohol as an example of how to teach kids to drink "responsibly," new evidence shows that when it comes to teens, there is no responsible drinking.

French hospitals report a dramatic increase in alcohol-related admissions to their emergency departments. One addiction specialist attributes the rise in binge drinking to the breakdown of family supervision and the ever-lower ages of initiation into drinking, with kids as young as 13 gathering to binge drink.

Find the complete article at:

http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2008/french-youths-pick-up-bad.html

Take Action Against Beer Ads in the NCAA

Taken from the Center for Science in the Public Interest's Take Action website:

Since 2005, 348 institutions of higher education — including Arizona State, Ohio State, Texas Tech, and the Universities of Florida, Minnesota, and Nebraska — and 16 athletic conferences have endorsed the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV’s “College Commitment” pledge to work toward eliminating beer advertising during televised college sports.

That pledge essentially asks that the NCAA live up to the intent of its own policies on advertising. The NCAA’s advertising and promotional standards on their face plainly “exclude those advertisements and advertisers...that do not appear to be in the best interests of higher education and student-athletes.” NCAA advertising rules specifically prohibit ads for cigarettes, other tobacco products, organizations promoting gambling, and alcoholic beverages, yet they permit ads for beverages with alcohol content of 6% or less (beer)!

Please take a moment to send a quick message to NCAA President Myles Brand urging the Association to take a leadership role to remove all alcohol advertising from televised NCAA sporting contests. This action would support college administrators’ efforts to help reduce alcohol-related problems, send a consistent message to college students and other young people about the impact of underage and excessive drinking on their health and well-being, and conform to general NCAA advertising policies.

http://takeaction.cspinet.org/campaign/attn_myles_brand

KU Strikes Down Beer & Bowling

Provost Richard Lariviere rejected a student proposal that would have allowed those 21-and-over to consume beer at Jaybowl in the Kansas Union. Several factors influenced this decision, including the small minority of Big 12 schools that serve beer in their unions, the many under-21 groups that hold events at Jaybowl, and the ultimate purpose of the university as an educational institution.

The Lawrence-Journal World tells the story of how the university banned union alcohol sales after the 1998 death of KU student Lisa Rosel:

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/jul/07/ku_rejects_proposal_beer_sales_union/

Teen Drinkers Get Alcohol From Adults

Over half of America's teens are using alcohol, and 40% of those are getting it from adults for free, according to the latest federal research:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=5256437&page=1