Can you stop drinking?

[marksman]

Worse, than prohibition, he's advocating abstinence from alcohol as a moral absolute.

Wine, in particular, can have health benefits.

Some people must probably abstain for their own good. For other people, alcohol in moderation is a positive benefit for themsevles and those around them.

The problem with the initial poster was that his message was both judgmental, absolutist and factually inaccurate.

 

[marksman]

I would also note that the two websites cited by the OP mention a correlation between criminal behavior and excessive alcohol consumption. They do not establish a causative effect (though such an effect would not surprise me).

As Cleon has mentioned, the OP has been unable to establish that it is impossible to drink responsibly.

 

[jimtron]

Can one drive responsibly? Automoblie fatalities are one of the leading causes of accidental death. Can you stop driving for a month? Maybe you have a problem. Do you have an unhealthy obsession with cup holders? Goofy ornaments hanging from the rearview mirror? Don't tell me you talk on your mobile phone in the car. Change stations while driving?

Maybe it's impossible to drive responsibly?

eta:

As a society, we have a driving problem.

 

[ponderingturtle]

Some people watch television then go out and imitate what they've seen, sometimes with dreadful results. Would you advocate banning television as well?

I will say that people are clearly to stupid to drive autmobiles, and they should be banned from all civilized countries. Look at the accident rates, it is cars that kill more than alcohol

 

[geni]

[soapbox]

Mel Gibson's case illustrates why the smartest choice is not to drink alcohol at all.

Your case demonstriaghts that the smartest choice is not to post at all.

As a society, we have a drinking problem.

As an internet we have a problem with people useing PDF files.

There's evidence that drinking alcohol is harmful to ourself and those around us.

So is posting rubbish on messagge boards.

Alcohol does something to your brain.

Dito the internet:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19

People suffer tremendously as a direct consequence of drinking alcohol or being around people who drink alcohol.

No comment.

Every drunken-driving death starts with just one drink.

Largely delt with that one in the UK still stuck with the idiot driver problem.

Nobody sips that first drink thinking, "I'm going to ruin my life," or "I'm going to kill someone tonight." We all tend to think that just one drink is no big deal. But "just one drink" has a way of turning into another. And another.

Speak for yourself.

OK, maybe you're strong enough and responsible enough to stop at just one drink. Maybe you've never, ever had too much to drink, or done something stupid or hurtful after drinking alcohol. You think you're a responsible drinker.

I suspect you think you are a responsible poster.

But the social reality in most cases is that when you drink, you encourage others to drink. When you drink, you teach your children to drink.

Children happen to other people.

When you drink, through your example you invite others to engage in an activity that, for some of them, will become harmful. Even deadly.

Juding by events the same appears to be true for posting.

If you drink regularly in moderation, ask yourself, can you stop drinking for a month? If so, then do it, as an experiment.

So doing it just because isn't acceptable? You see i'm have problems with this N=1 idea and I don't want to pay for a control group

If you can't stop for a month, you have a problem. If you can stop for a month, why not do yourself and everyone else a favor and stop for another month? And then another?

Again the posting thing springs to mind

Prohibition isn't the answer. Individual choice is. There's no such think as drinking responsibly.

You can't make me responciple for the actions of other people.

 

[ponderingturtle]

I'm working on it, I joined AAA.

Automotice Ascociation of America
Abdominal Arotic Aneurism

Or did you mean AA and not AAA, as the AAA I know have nothing to do with alcohol

 

[bob_kark]

Automotice Ascociation of America
Abdominal Arotic Aneurism

Or did you mean AA and not AAA, as the AAA I know have nothing to do with alcohol

American Automobile Association

They tow my car home when I go drinking.

Thought I may never get to deliver that one.

 

[steverino]

ME THINKS YOU PROTEST TOO MUCH.
Those of you responding to Nosho with angry tones, I suspect, have an alcohol problem. Although I am Jewish, I find Mel Gibson's drunk driving much more harmful than his hateful words. Sticks and stones...
America's anti-war mongers point to our 3000 soldiers who've died in Iraq. May I point out that, while this is terrible and tragic, 25,000 Americans die annually in drinking related auto accidents. There seems to be little outrage, protest, or reportage by CNN on this statistical fact.

 

[bob_kark]

ME THINKS YOU PROTEST TOO MUCH.
Those of you responding to Nosho with angry tones, I suspect, have an alcohol problem. Although I am Jewish, I find Mel Gibson's drunk driving much more harmful than his hateful words. Sticks and stones...
America's anti-war mongers point to our 3000 soldiers who've died in Iraq. May I point out that, while this is terrible and tragic, 25,000 Americans die annually in drinking related auto accidents. There seems to be little outrage, protest, or reportage by CNN on this statistical fact.

Well at least you provided plenty of evidence to back up your baseless accusation. Oh, wait, you didn't.

 

[KelvinG]

I love to go out every now and again and drink excessively.
However, I have no booze in my house. Unless it's a social thing, I will never, ever drink alcohol.
Yet, there is no doubt that often I drink with the intent of getting drunk.
I've also had times when I've quit drinking for months at a time and never even thought about having a boozy drink.

So, if someone were to see me blitzed at a bar on a Saturday night, they might say "he has a problem."
But, I'm quite positive I don't.

 

[Cleon]

ME THINKS YOU PROTEST TOO MUCH.
Those of you responding to Nosho with angry tones, I suspect, have an alcohol problem.

Methinks (one word) you are full of crap.

At least two people who've posted critical responses are complete tee-totallers--they don't touch alcohol at all.

Your logic is simply insipid. Neosho posts a ridiculous, unsupported assertion ("There's no such think as drinking responsibly") on a skeptics' board, and if we're overly critical of such silly logic we have an alcohol problem?

Next, I suppose you'll explain that the only people who support drug decriminalization are crack addicts.

 

[ponderingturtle]

ME THINKS YOU PROTEST TOO MUCH.
Those of you responding to Nosho with angry tones, I suspect, have an alcohol problem. Although I am Jewish, I find Mel Gibson's drunk driving much more harmful than his hateful words. Sticks and stones...
America's anti-war mongers point to our 3000 soldiers who've died in Iraq. May I point out that, while this is terrible and tragic, 25,000 Americans die annually in drinking related auto accidents. There seems to be little outrage, protest, or reportage by CNN on this statistical fact.

Ah so my not drinking is the problem, I really need to drink more so that he will not sound like a nut?

See NTSA Report it puts percentages of alcohol involvement in crashes the highest percentage there is 41% for 30-49 year old motorcycle riders. So cars are by themselves are more dangerous as the combination of alcohol and cars, in terms of accidents per year.

 

[roger]

And I'm kind of the opposite of Kevin. I keep tons of booze at the house. I drink alone all the time.

But it's one beer, which usually goes unfinished. Or an espresso cup's worth of port at the end of the night. Or one shot of bourbon as a nightcap.

It's responsible drinking. Thus, the opening post is incorrect.

 

[tkingdoll]

Worse, than prohibition, he's advocating abstinence from alcohol as a moral absolute.

Wine, in particular, can have health benefits.

Some people must probably abstain for their own good. For other people, alcohol in moderation is a positive benefit for themsevles and those around them.

The problem with the initial poster was that his message was both judgmental, absolutist and factually inaccurate.

Agreed, although I would add to your third paragraph that some of us abstain because we want to, not for our own good

 

[El Greco]

Wine, in particular, can have health benefits.

To be fair, it's the antioxidants in red wine that have the benefits. Alcohol doesn't have any benefits itself. I also think that most (if not all) the beneficial antioxidants in red wine have been identified and they are easily obtainable from other sources.

 

[Dark Jaguar]

I myself don't drink and have no intention of doing so. I basically just took the easy way out. I've actually heard someone say that this is "still not responsible because you are just ducking the problem entirely". So? That's the point! Why shouldI intentionally make my own life harder, so others can feel better about themselves? That's stupid.

At any rate, I'm not about to say people can't drink responsibly, they can, and it's their choice. At the same time, the second they cross the line and get themselves in trouble, they aren't getting any sympothy just because they were "under the influence" at the time. I'm sick of hearing that excuse.

As for driving safety, people have to drive (here for example the public transportation system is next to nonexistant), but I actually would say that at the point where human drivers can be replaced with a computer highway system with the ability to detect and avoid foreign objects on the road (like pedestrians), I'd be all for banning humans from driving and forcing everyone to use a computer system to get from point A to point B, as at that point having a human driver will just be a huge unnecessary danger.

 

[slingblade]

About 9 years ago, my husband and I stopped drinking, but it wasn't a totally conscious decision. I mean, we didn't look at one another and say "We need to stop."

It was a combination of not really being able to afford drink, and not really caring for it anymore. I guess the closest thing I can liken this to is Saturday morning cartoons. One day you realize you'd stopped watching them, but you don't remember deciding to do so or just when it happened. Maybe sometimes you turn them back on and try to watch them again, but they just aren't the same. They seem incredibly silly to you; a waste of time, or something you've simply gotten past.

We have a beer now and then, maybe once a year, and hubby went out with his friends two or three times to shoot pool and have a whiskey, but that's really about it.

So, yeah. I can and have stopped drinking, and didn't think too much about it.

 

[Cleon]

We have a beer now and then, maybe once a year, and hubby went out with his friends two or three times to shoot pool and have a whiskey, but that's really about it.

So, yeah. I can and have stopped drinking, and didn't think too much about it.

Clearly, you have an alcohol problem. Why else would you continue to drink?


(In case this isn't obvious - )

 

[slingblade]

Ah, yes, I do. My problem is I don't drink.

I do remember an old joke though: I don't have a drinking problem. I drink, I get drunk, I fall down, no problem!

 

[Katana]

I tried to stop drinking once, but I couldn't give up the olives.

Yum!