The young and alcohol: when the party’s over | France 2 | Envoyé Spécial

Usually reserved for weekends, alcohol consumption rockets during the summer. According to the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictions, the trend is increasing: 17 to 25 year-olds drink more, more often and faster. And the phenomenon is more evident during the school holidays. The sale of alcohol to minors has been banned for three years now. But in the ER rooms of the Montpellier central hospital, the stream of ever-younger teens in a drunken coma continues. Some of the young people on the stretchers come straight from a village party, like the thousands that are held in France every summer. We went to those held in Baillargues, in the Hérault. Alcohol plays a central role… for all generations. Where does risky behaviour begin and tradition end? How have young people shifted from the initiation rite of getting drunk to binge drinking… or even to premature alcoholism? Drinking from morning to night, partying non-stop for three days in the manner of American “springbreaks”… These new-style holidays, still unknown in Europe 5 years ago, are attracting more and more emulators among young French people who go off to Spain for fiestas organised over the Internet. What will become of this generation accustomed to drinking often and heavily from the age of 15? Although the short term risks of alcohol have long been known?car accidents, injuries sustained when falling while in a drunken state, etc.?the long-term risks have hitherto been unknown. And yet, alcoholic centres like that of Grau du Roi are now taking in patients of less than 30 who have 10 and sometimes 15 years of alcoholism behind them. That’s not counting the increased risks of cancer for the 15-25 year-olds of today, especially girls, who now drink as much, if not more, than the boys.