Drugs Replacing the Drink?

July 23rd, 2012 | Add a Comment

My father has told me stories of when the drinking age was eighteen…once upon a time back in the seventies and situations in movies like Dazed and Confused, where they had trunk loads of ice cold beer, and driving drunk was a regular affair. Times were different back then and drinking was more acceptable in our society and the guidelines were less strict. In our culture today, our government takes drinking offenses to the next level, a much higher level than ever before. Individuals can spend months in jail for driving under the influence as well as other related offences due to alcohol.

Since every establishment that sells any type of liquor cards everyone, no matter what, it makes it difficult for young adults to acquire the means to obtain alcohol, diminishing their motivation to acquire it. All these circumstances, in my opinion, are leading kids to use more drugs and to stay away from the booze. They realize it’s easier to buy a gram of weed than struggling to find someone to buy them a bottle of liquor.

I remember when I was a youngster trying to find that bum that happened to be alright with buying liquor for a minor – it was a pain in the ass. I’d go around for hours and usually come up empty handed, and admit defeat and go buy some weed. In the long run, all that time spent searching for liquor; could have been spent getting high on other substances. However, today, I don’t do any of that but the reason for the decrease in drinking in teenagers is the availability of drugs. The apprehension of illicit substances rules over the availability of obtaining alcohol. As my dad had previously expressed to me, regarding the drinking age being so young; kids were not getting in trouble as often.

The law takes drinking to the next level. Teenagers are scared of getting in trouble because alcohol is so noticeable; it smells on your breath, just a few drinks can get you very drunk and sloppy, and the feeling after being drunk just really sucks. I’m not saying that everyone should get high instead of drunk but there are so many accounts of people doing some really dumb stuff while drinking and maybe kids have realized this. It is much safer to smoke a joint than to drink a whole fifth of liquor.

Drugs are bad, hands down, but let’s face it; our youth is gravitating towards them more so than alcohol. There is no research to back up this fact; however there seems to be some truth to the decreased amount of alcohol being consumed by our adolescence and that may be a result of more drug use. The price of alcohol has gone up and the price of drugs has gone down. Are drugs replacing the drink? It gives you something to think about.

By Matt B.