Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

French try to put cork in teen drinking binges

Opinion Alcohol and teens are a heady mix, writes Cherie Sivignon in this week’s L’expat.

Before I moved to France I was under the impression that French citizens had a better attitude to the consumption of booze than my New Zealand peers.

And that is true.

My husband Franck, born and raised in France, had no cultural pressure as a youngster to repeatedly binge drink himself into a drunken stupor. He grew up with alcohol in moderation beginning as a child with a watered-down glass of wine during Sunday lunch and it always accompanied food.

His teen friends never chanted witty rhymes such as “eating’s cheating” as they cajoled their mates into drinking yet another bottle of beer with the aim of getting drunk. It was never a goal of his group of friends to go out and get smashed so they could boast about how much they were able to consume, or laugh if their mates had to vomit.

However, Franck is now part of an older generation. Due to turn 40 this year, his teenage years and the cultural attitudes to alcohol of his peers are, sadly, 20 years out of date.

Times have changed in the land of food, wine and politics.

This shift has been accompanied by the teen embracement of foreign popular culture and the introduction of RTDs or alcopops, as the English call those pre-mixed, usually sweet-tasting spirit-and-fizz concoctions.

Like their English and New Zealand counterparts, many French teens now binge drink.

In a move designed to put a cork in the bottle of this unwanted cultural shift, French MPs in the lower house have voted to increase the legal age to buy alcohol, from 16 years to 18 years.

Yep, it is legal for a 16-year-old to buy booze in France, as it is for beer and wine purchases in Germany and a couple of other Western European countries.

The French bill also seeks to ban open bars and the night sales of alcohol at petrol stations, believed to be a prime source of booze for young people.

However, the message behind the law change has been diluted with the legal introduction of alcohol advertising on the internet. Booze will be able to be advertised online, although print, radio and television remain a no-go area for alcohol ads.

Legislators also have plans to up the pressure on smoking by increasing the legal age to buy cigarettes to 18 years. The move follows the surprisingly successful ban on smoking in French cafes and restaurants.

These proposals to increase the age limits for buying alcohol and tobacco are well and good but, as every teenager knows, with a little forward planning (and a helpful 18-year-old) it is easy to get one’s hands on booze and ciggies.

Reversing the change in cultural attitudes, now that would be the trick.

source: Stuff NZ

More Treatment & Detox Articles

The symptoms of dual diagnosis

Dual diagnosis, as the name suggests, can be defined as the diagnosis of a major mental health disorder along with alcohol or substance addiction at the same time. In a survey, it was found that around 50 percent of the Americans suffered from this problem. Dual diagnosis can affect an individual physically, psychologically and also….

Law aims for youth drinking, hits everyone

In the most tragic way possible, the December alcohol-poisoning death of Foothill High School student Shelby Lyn Allen fostered intense local discussion of underage drinking and its consequences. And on Tuesday, in a move they argue would prevent another such senseless death, advocates will ask the Shasta County Board of Supervisors to pass a “Social….

Common Misconceptions about Addiction

There are many misconceived ideas about addiction that lead people to make poor choices or to overlook certain consequences when addiction is a factor. Though addiction is a science that is continuously being addressed, many of the original ideas and perceptions about this disease continue to stick around in the minds of both those addicted….

Governments’ Drug-Abuse Costs Hit $468 Billion, Study Says

Government spending related to smoking and the abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs reached $468 billion in 2005, accounting for more than one-tenth of combined federal, state and local expenditures for all purposes, according to a new study. Most abuse-related spending went toward direct health care costs for lung disease, cirrhosis and overdoses, for example,….

Types of Alcoholism & How Treatment Centers Can Help

Living with an alcoholic can be extremely hard and stressful and being addicted to alcohol can cause both psychological and physical damage to a person’s body. Since alcohol is the number one abused drug in the world there are many people who suffer from alcohol addiction and since alcohol addiction effect millions of Americans, there….