Cogs can think.

I watched an interesting part of a debate in the Dutch Lower House today concerning the alarming rise in what we call “coma drinking”. Coma drinking is drinking until you, well, are actually poisoned by the alcohol. It is extremely dangerous, and can result in permanent damage and even death. The really scary thing is that this year, roughly 80… Children were admitted to the hospital because of coma drinking.

The average age was 13.

In The Netherlands, the legal age for buying mild alcohol (beer, wine, Breezers) is 16, while the age for more serious drinks is 18. Supermarkets are only allowed to carry the mild alcohol; the more serious stuff they need to sell in a special mini-store outside of the supermarket itself.

While these ages make perfect sense for me, the problem is that, obviously, older people will buy booze for the younger people. As a consequence, the government is now thinking of actually making it illegal for anyone below 16 (or 18 when it comes to stronger booze) to even posses alcohol. A logical and very good move if you ask me. On top of that, I would propose even stronger fines for people selling/giving alcohol to minors.

This may seem weird for some regulars of my weblog; don’t I advocate the freedom to do what you want with your body when it comes to drugs and alcohol? Sure I do, but that only goes for adults. Anyone below 18 is a child, and ought to be treated as such. That is supposed to be the parents’ job, but if they fail at doing so, the government ought to step up and correct the issue.

I had my first alcoholic drink (Bacardi rum mixed with cola) when I was 14 or 15; and I can tell you, during that time, I didn’t even think about what it meant to drink. At that party, my friends, classmates, and I just drank. It was there for the first time, and nobody stopped and thought about what it actually meant to drink alcohol.

In other words, kids that age haven’t a fcuking clue what alcohol does with your body. I knew alcohol was “bad”, and that it could make you drunk, but when you’re only 13/14/15, you cannot grasp the concept of consequences well enough in order to realise what alcohol does/can do to you and your body. At that party, two or three of my friends vomited because of the alcohol. I only had a few, and besides getting extremely sleepy, little happened to or with me.

Currently, my alcohol consumption is extremely limited. I rarely drink more than once a month, and I think I had my last Martini (my favourite drink) about 6 or 7 weeks ago. When I was 16-17, I stopped drinking for over a year, and currently, I’m thinking of doing that again.

I already am an unpredictable idiot, alcohol or no alcohol.