All work and no alcohol makes Billy a dull boy.
Growing up in this country, let alone this city, it’s difficult to live past your teens without encountering the effects of alcohol. For some, the inaugural experience is a direct, and in my case often forceful, provocation from your peers to indulge in the fine liver-wasting pursuit that is the all-night “binge.” For others, usually those that manage to extricate themselves from such collective pressures, their first glimpse of youthful inebriation arrives sometime at midnight on a typical Saturday evening, when the rumpled and dishevelled frames of many a youngster slump helplessly against the very wall they decided to urinate against mere moments prior.
The truth is, we don’t do “moderation” in this country, particularly not when it comes to alcohol. We either drink ‘til it’s messy, or we don’t drink at all. Living in a society where a steadfast adherence to this maxim is not just the norm, but actively and aggressively encouraged, it’s small wonder we see stories like that of a 19-year-old UCL student, who died last week of suspected alcohol poisoning during an “all-you-can-drink” freshers’ party.
Is this the result of irresponsibility on the part of the organisers and manufacturers of alcoholic beverages? Given that students were given the opportunity to drink as much as they liked for the princely sum of £15; yes, perhaps it was. But we also need to realise that we live in a culture where the alternative, (teetotalism), is not just frowned upon, but so alien a concept as to be hugely impractical. Moreover, it’s a choice that in male company is all too often a source of ridicule and derision.
It’s clear that even a straightforward increase in the price of alcohol, coupled with a discontinuation of such thriftily themed student nights, will do little to affect the binge drink phenomenon. If we are to seriously tackle drink culture, and prevent future alcohol-related fatalities, we need to consider not just how alcohol is dispensed in our society, but the very fabric of society itself.
