Week 3 Post 3

     Upon reading about the definition of 1 drink, I recognized that most people probably would not operate using the same guidelines. Consider college students. I cannot imagine a typical college student having 1 beer and calling it a night. And yet, that is what is necessary to preserve long term health. If what I read is true, I think that America is in for a rude awakening when the young generation turns up with shocking cases of cancer. A large part of the problem is that there are less and less instances now of people, especially young people, choosing wine or beer over hard liquor. Seeing that this is true, I think it is possible that alcohol-related illnesses could become an epidemic-level problem. Possibly most concerning is that I do not believe that most people, young or old, would have much education on the topic unless they were a doctor or had personal experience with it. But, I do think that education would do at least a small aide in helping to mitigate the risk of chronic illness and save lives. I did not think that this module contained a lot of information but it did get me thinking about how to reduce risk of cancer and the people with breast cancer that I am familiar with. I know one heavy drinker who got breast cancer and stopped drinking alcohol almost completely and another who did not have a problem but probably abused the substance, and has since vastly reduced her alcohol intake. Alcohol has always been a dangerous substance but is a far bigger demon than I ever imagined. 

    Is alcohol going to be a huge problem in the younger generation? Do companies market alcohol to the younger generation? Is this another way in which America and big business are operating to damage public health for financial gain? I would like to learn more about incentives in school and in the work place to educate people of the risk of heavy drinking. I really do not know how to solve this problem in a way that would not make the vast majority of Americans defensive. Also, why is drinking under 21 automatically considered excessive drinking?