[81alum]

[quote author=81alum link=topic=15166.msg164603#msg164603 date=1465333711]Many campuses have banned hard alcohol, Dartmouth, Williams, Amherst, UFDFG, etc.

Dartmouth?  I don't actually believe this.

edit:
What I meant was that I didn't think such a ban would have much effect.

http://thedartmouth.com/2016/03/03/a-loo...-year-out/
[/quote]
The proposed Stanford ban was ONLY on hard liquor and ONLY on freshman dorms where nearly everyone is under the legal drinking age, and it still went down to defeat 11:1.  I think keeping hard liquor out of the hands of 18 year olds is not a bad goal, given that there were no other restrictions proposed.

No, it doesn't seem as if any kind of prohibition of any kind is effective, and many of them have negative, unforeseen consequences.  If Garvin were here I am sure he would point that out, the good Libertarian that he is. 

But we have a serious problem at universities across American, Stanford included, with the use of alcohol.  This is a major transition for many nerdy 18 year olds--many of whom have no experience with drinking--and get thrown into the binge drinking experience for the first time their freshman year.  Figuring out a way to help these kids learn responsible drinking rather than the binge drinking that is common at colleges would certainly be desirable.  Keeping the alcohol content low enough that inexperienced drinkers have time to react to the effects would be a good start.  Improving our residential education on the subject might be useful--I'm not sure how much alcohol education students get during orientation these days.  I don't think we got any in the 1970s. 

But the whole culture could use an overhaul on its attitude toward this drug.  It is instructive to look at how Southern Europeans (so called "wet cultures," although patterns are changing) used alcohol--higher per capital consumption but lower rates of alcoholism, DUIs, public drunkenness, etc.  Why?  Binge drinking was rare, being drunk was socially unacceptable, there was little consumption of hard liquor, drinking was normally done with food.  Compare that to going to a frat party and drinking vodka straight up.  Values and attitudes about this drug matter, and it would be good if we could figure out how to steer those 18 year olds toward moderation and responsible use.  Perhaps offer them wine with their dinners every night?

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/a...95-109.htm

[81alum]

[quote author=81alum link=topic=15166.msg164603#msg164603 date=1465333711]Many campuses have banned hard alcohol, Dartmouth, Williams, Amherst, UFDFG, etc.

Dartmouth?  I don't actually believe this.

edit:
What I meant was that I didn't think such a ban would have much effect.

http://thedartmouth.com/2016/03/03/a-loo...-year-out/
[/quote]
The proposed Stanford ban was ONLY on hard liquor and ONLY on freshman dorms where nearly everyone is under the legal drinking age, and it still went down to defeat 11:1.  I think keeping hard liquor out of the hands of 18 year olds is not a bad goal, given that there were no other restrictions proposed.

No, it doesn't seem as if any kind of prohibition of any kind is effective, and many of them have negative, unforeseen consequences.  If Garvin were here I am sure he would point that out, the good Libertarian that he is. 

But we have a serious problem at universities across American, Stanford included, with the use of alcohol.  This is a major transition for many nerdy 18 year olds--many of whom have no experience with drinking--and get thrown into the binge drinking experience for the first time their freshman year.  Figuring out a way to help these kids learn responsible drinking rather than the binge drinking that is common at colleges would certainly be desirable.  Keeping the alcohol content low enough that inexperienced drinkers have time to react to the effects would be a good start.  Improving our residential education on the subject might be useful--I'm not sure how much alcohol education students get during orientation these days.  I don't think we got any in the 1970s. 

But the whole culture could use an overhaul on its attitude toward this drug.  It is instructive to look at how Southern Europeans (so called "wet cultures," although patterns are changing) used alcohol--higher per capital consumption but lower rates of alcoholism, DUIs, public drunkenness, etc.  Why?  Binge drinking was rare, being drunk was socially unacceptable, there was little consumption of hard liquor, drinking was normally done with food.  Compare that to going to a frat party and drinking vodka straight up.  Values and attitudes about this drug matter, and it would be good if we could figure out how to steer those 18 year olds toward moderation and responsible use.  Perhaps offer them wine with their dinners every night?

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/a...95-109.htm