For today’s society alcohol and tobacco are both a hot topic and considered for most a part of everyday life. I do not smoke and never found the appeal of it, but I do drink alcohol now and then. I was never one to get too carried away with consuming unhealthy amounts of anything unless it was unhealthy foods, but I do have people in my life where they either have a few drinks every day or smoke every day. Of course at social gatherings or certain occasions, I think drinking is appropriate and just a normal part of our society. I do have to say though I was shocked to find out that consuming more than 3 alcoholic beverages in one sitting is considered binge drinking. I am not sure if it is just because I am young and a huge part of my social life now is going out with friends and drinking, where there is a lot more consumption of alcohol that statistically is not healthy or normal.
For college students and most people in their 20’s, I think pregaming was just a normal thing and more people indeed take part in it than people who do not, but it can lead to some serious and dangerous consequences. I never thought too much into it or knew much, but drinking is the social event. I have never heard of drunkorexia until this chapter, which is an individual that is heavy drinking while disordered eating. This is terrifying to learn about and should not be as shocking since people with all different circumstances and backgrounds most likely drink. This horrible combination is just putting yourself or whoever that individual is in such a threatening and dangerous situation, whether they blackout, experience unintended sexual activity, or alcohol poisoning which may lead to death or serious health problems.
I do not think colleges or places are going to stop people from drinking or even reduce it that much because it is just normal and expected behavior. I do think schools should offer courses or maybe recommend first-year students to take a course on aging knowledge on the dangers and how to drink responsibly. I know for me and a lot of my friends, we just never knew too much about how dangerous or big of a problem it could be until some time after. This is something I feel like may not get through to everyone learning, but offering students information on how drink responsibly could help a lot more students than not.
As for tobacco, there is not much I do know about it other than I can barely breathe when someone around me is smoking and how damaging it can be to your body. I was shocked to find out that 67% of regular smokers are likely to die from smoking-related diseases, but I did think the number would have been higher. I was interested to learn about pipes and hookahs and what effects they have since I have always heard different opinions from others. I think hookah has become huge in normal social events, but maybe because I just am 23 so I am still new to going out. I never knew how smoking hookah would be so big in clubs or parties until I started going out. Finding out that smoking hookah has mostly the same health risks and toxins as smoking cigarettes were news to me and makes me happy that I usually just always stood by my instincts of not even smoking from one. I think because a lot of these different tobacco products have become so normal, people just assume it’s safe or there are safer options when everyone else is doing it. It may not be for everyone, but I think peer pressure is a huge thing when smoking from these products because you see everyone doing it and for all you know they look healthy.
Lastly, I found it insane learning from a recent college survey that they had found only 11% of students reported using e-cigarettes. These electronic cigarettes have become such a huge problem and from just people, I know and seeing it I think the percentage should be way higher. I am aware maybe not many people are confirming that they are smoking or they did not collect enough data, but I believe there is a bigger problem now with smoking e-cigarettes than there is with regular cigarettes. I believe that everyone has unhealthy habits whether it is smoking, drinking, overeating, etc. I hope to see more people find healthy balances for themselves and others while finding other activities or strategies to learn to lose their unhealthy habits or at least allow it to not become as much of your everyday routine.
Samantha Lundrigan - Health & Wellness 