Serious Issues to Remember on National Beer Day

It might seem like irony or juxtaposition but today I read some posts on my newsfeed which intrigued this Morgantown criminal defense lawyer. Are you wondering what the posts were? Well, one of them talked about National Beer Day which now seems like a partially legitimate holiday due to the overwhelming presence of the internet.

Another post gave us further details about the history of how April is considered the National Alcohol Awareness Month. April 7th is considered to be the official end of prohibition in the USA. So, you must be aware of the fact that drinking too much, especially for the ones who are underage, is quite a serious matter in the United States.

I don’t want to act like a spoilt sport but it is a fact that according to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence or the NCASS which introduced the National Alcohol Awareness Month in 1987, the top choice for drugs among the youth of America is alcohol.

Underage drinking is highly dangerous because most kids don’t know how to manage themselves and end up doing unreasonably stupid things. Poor performance in school, reckless sex practices, and DUI can be some of the deadly consequences of excessive drinking at an early age. Drinking and driving can result in extremely bad situations for teenagers because they are usually inexperienced so they are more likely to tailgate or speed up unnecessarily or often engage in texting while driving. This reckless driving attitude, when combined with alcohol impairment, can lead to severe consequences. While grown-up adults tend to be charged with DUIs for their blood alcohol content higher than 0.08%, the teen drivers are at risk for any percentage in the BAC level and have greater chances of causing a fatal injury when they drink and drive.

Threats related to underage drinking have increased to such an extent that the NCASS has themed the observation for this year as “For the Health of It: Early Education on Alcoholism”. And if you ask me, in my years of experience of being a criminal defense lawyer in Morgantown, I truly believe that we need more education; more people need to be aware of this issue and the problems it poses.

I have many clients who attended school at West Virginia University. While got charged with DUIs, there are some who were accused of underage drinking. There were also a few others who were charged with other kinds of alcohol-induced criminal activities.

Being an alum of the West Virginia University, it is totally understandable for me that kids these days party in college and often even before they attain the legalized age limit for drinking.

In my opinion, when we celebrate National Beer Day, we must also keep in mind that this could be giving confusing signals to the young crowd of America celebrating this day. So, we must also join the NCADD in the effort of spreading more awareness about the hazards of underage drinking.

Source: National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence