News Shorts with Danzig (Breaking News on Alcohol)

[The Mainerishi]

One of the most contentious issues in the vast literature about alcohol consumption has been the consistent finding that those who don't drink tend to die sooner than those who do. The standard Alcoholics Anonymous explanation for this finding is that many of those who show up as abstainers in such research are actually former hard-core drunks who had already incurred health problems associated with drinking.

But a new paper in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research suggests that — for reasons that aren't entirely clear — abstaining from alcohol does tend to increase one's risk of dying, even when you exclude former problem drinkers. The most shocking part? Abstainers' mortality rates are higher than those of heavy drinkers.

FULL ARTICLE: Time Magazine.com

That'll be a rather stunning blow to people like say CM Punk. But where do you guys file in on this?

I spent about 9 months of my life as straight edge and it was awful. I never felt so socialy secluded in my life. The educational benefits were great as my grades rose and I could study better when I wasn't hungover. Also my physical fitness went up as I used to be quite the binge drinker before I stopped. Now I only drink off term time.

[The One]

Woah, shit, really? I live the straight-edge lifestyle myself, so this is kind of unsettling. I don't want to believe it...but I don't foresee myself changing my ways.

[The Senator]

I see some future study doing a 180 on this within a decade or two. It's the nature of dietary/health studies to do that, after all.

[Buddy Ghee]

I guess I'm straight-edge, but that's because I have no real interest in that kind of stuff.

[El Shadowo]

Don't drink either, and I'm calling BS on this.

It's true that those who abstain from alcohol tend to be from lower socioeconomic classes, since drinking can be expensive. And people of lower socioeconomic status have more life stressors — job and child-care worries that might not only keep them from the bottle but also cause stress-related illnesses over long periods.

That's utter tripe, at least here in Ireland. In my experience, it is the lower classes who get utterly scuttered on a regular basis. Even ignoring the cost issue for a second, it is the stresses that lead to drink, not prevent it. Further, I find that when I'm out shopping or that, it's the lower classes I see loading up on the cheap booze, often opting to buy the cheapest brands of food possible in order to get as many cans as they can. Maybe the writer finds things differently in America, but some actual fact or figure backing up this claim would have been nice.

One important reason is that alcohol lubricates so many social interactions, and social interactions are vital for maintaining mental and physical health. As I pointed out last year, nondrinkers show greater signs of depression than those who allow themselves to join the party.

This is my main problem with the article though. It doesn't list what people who abstain actually die of. Just that those who don't drink dont have people to say "Jaysus, you look a tad sick". That's utter crap. Even if I don't socialize on a grand scale, that doesn't mean I dont have friends and family.

As Sennie said though, these reports and studies tend to be condtradicted on a regular basis, and it is quite easy to find any report to back up any view point you want.

[Taylor]

Lol @ at all the Straight Edge people in this thread >_> at most I'm willing ti bet your tee total

[El Shadowo]

I wouldn't consider myself straight edge tbh, nor would I really want to put any label on my decisions. I just don't drink and am anti-alcohol. <_<

[The Mainerishi]

I remember in some other fed I was in back in April someone made a thread celebrating "4/20" or 420 day which is the international number of marijuana and it was a fairly jubilant discussion with most of the members discussing in jubilation about how they were going to get completely Cheeched later that night. So I posted a picture of CM Punk staring disapprovingly at the camera.

I didn't last long in that fed.

[TJ]

See I hate when people go the way of Punk and claim to be better than me because I drink. I don't have ot drink to have a good time, I choose to from time to time to have a better time than normal.

That said, I just drink, weed and other drugs and cigs are disgustingg/dangerously bad

[The Mainerishi]

I only ever smoke when I'm unbelievably drunk and cold at the same time.