The doctors told me that I need more gravy.

[Balcan]

I really don't need any more gravy. Please don't let them give me more gravy.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

Is that a line from a show? Or do you mean the Doctors are saying you are too skinny?

[Balcan]

Who knows, I was stupid drunk.

Though I did lose a lot of weight.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

lol, never got into drinking - seen too many casualties of alcohol that I have been determined not to go down that road. It's not that I won't have an occasional drink, its that I leave it at that - one drink and I won't drink if I know I will be driving. I guess I save money that way too, Alcohol can be expensive.

What's really sad is the lives lost from people who drive while intoxicated or drugged out. One moment and a life can be snuffed out. All the opportunities and possibilities for that person gone because of someone's irresponsibility. I could never live with knowing I was the cause of someone's death.

Locally there was a fatality this week end from someone with a DUI hitting another car. You can never pay back what you have taken and the tragedy has a trickle down affect.

[Balcan]

drinking seemed like a big deal to me when I was younger. It's really not all its made out to be and I'm much more casual about it now. At first I saw it as a rite into adulthood. I think that goes for a lot of teenagers. Then it was more for self medication than anything.

Many people don't know how to handle alcohol. It could be because they were never taught to do it responsibly. There are families who completely deny even their older children alcohol and the more they are deprived, the more curious they are to try something. I figure it's better to let them know what it's like in a controlled way than have them break into an alcohol binge one night for the first time and mow down a bunch of pedestrians

[galled]

I think there's a lot to what you're saying. The "forbidden fruit" syndrome makes it *seem* more appealing. I know in Europe, alcohol (well, wine) is given to children. I wonder if the DUI death rates are lower there than in the US?

My guidelines are that if your personality changes and/or you behave differently when you drink, you've had too much.

[Balcan]

I never used that term before, but essentially yes.

In Russia, there is a drinking culture. Russians spend the most on alcohol out of every other country. And we have a lot of alcoholism. Most of the alcohol is hard liquor like vodka. Yeah, the stereotype exists for a reason. It's a part of our history and we don't attribute as much importance to dangers of drinking as Americans do. It is part of the norm.

Alcohol always changes your personality, it varies how much though. being more sociable and less uptight is the effect most people go for.

[galled]

I've seen several video compilations of bad Russian car accidents. Knowing what you do, do you think there are more alcohol related car accidents there or here?

Just wondering if the cultural effects have some positive aspects to it as well. In my area we've had several alcohol related deaths (and the drivers live) over the last few weeks and I can't help but think about what might be done to help eliminate these needless losses.

[Balcan]

Note that an outright ban on alcohol will not help. Look at prohibition. People still found ways to drink, only it was driven underground. Gorbachev led an anti-alcohol campaign in the 80s that ultimately failed. It was effective at first but following the collapse of the Soviet Union, drinking rose drastically and consequently there were more deaths. When a country has such a long history of heavy drinking like Russia, it is difficult to reverse.

The number of traffic accidents is among the highest in the world but as I don't have access to statistic right now I can't say how many of those are alcohol related. I think it's unfair to make a decision based on a compilation of car accidents though. Because a compilation only shows one side - the accidents. It doesn't mention the times there WASN'T an accident and it doesn't compare it to car accidents in any other places so there is not enough reference.

[Diana]

I've heard people say that in European countries, there isn't the same kind of obsession with binge alcohol consumption that we see in the US in collage age students; because, like you guys have mentioned, people are taught to drink at a younger age and the mystery and rebellion in the getting drunk aspect isn't there.

[Balcan]

The name "vodka" stems from "voda", the Russian word for water. A pretty good metaphor for how important it has become in society. Another reason for its popularity - Russia is known for being cold. People who worked outdoors like farmers drank vodka to keep warm. In reality, vodka does not warm you up but lowers your body temperature which makes it seem that way.

[galled]

That's a perfect word for it because it looks like water! I'm not against alcohol, but agree with Diana that the binge drinking is the problem. Personal responsibility and self control are the things that makes all of the difference.

Balcan, I wasn't trying to get you to quote stats, but thank you. I guess I'm interested in what your feelings/experiences are regarding alcohol and accidents--do you feel there are more issues there than here? Do you recall seeing/hearing about DUI accidents and/or deaths more there or where you live now?

Maybe there's just better news coverage today here, but it seems to me that there's a steady stream of DUI accidents/murders that have been going on for years. What makes it scary is it seems like the ones killed were doing nothing more than just driving on the road minding their own business when someone who has obviously had too much runs into them head on and kills them. It makes me sad and very angry...

[Lemon Cheesecake]

I know people in their 80-90's now who grew up with the "cocktail" hour and still have a drink every day. Which, if you are not driving is no problem. Culture does have a major influence in our perceptions..

Historically I am assuming water was not very clean and juice went bad quickly because lack of ways to store it so people drank fermented drinks and it was acceptable.

I don't know what the middle ground is for deciding age related drinking but what the focus needs to be is on responsible drinking - but those that are conscientious already are, its how do you make those who aren't act responsible?

For many alcohol does produce a warm feeling, relaxing. Then too much can hinder the rationalizing part of the brain and cause problems. And if you have a hangover the next day was it really worth it? And it irritates me when people brag about "how much alcohol they can drink/hold". How do they know, they're drunk. What tests did they do to prove that they aren't affected?

What's with the people that say they "black out" and don't remember? Why are you drinking that much to do that?