Drinking alcohol in excess is more dangerous than people thought–and girls are the ones binge drinking! | Source: ShutterStock

You’re not dumb–you know that drinking alcohol, especially underage drinking, is a huge risk. But what you may not know is exactly how much you’re drinking–to the point of binge drinking. New studies show that not only do young women drink more booze than guys do, but We also have much more dire consequences for it.

Women in general are recommended to only have seven drinks per week, while for guys that limit is upped to 14 drinks per week. There’s no sexism behind this, either: our bodies are just functionally different from guys’, so we process alcohol differently and drinking alcohol effects us a lot more strongly and lot more quickly than it does for dudes. (For the science minded: Guys have more of the stomach enzyme gastric alcohol dehydrogenase, which lowers the amount of alcohol that gets into their bloodstreams, allowing them to drink more and feel its effects less.)

Most of the women and girls in the study who drank way over the recommended weekly limit did so in their first few weeks of college. This is a bummer, but it makes sense: Booze is everywhere, and if you don’t know your limits yet, you’re a lot more likely to exceed them until you do.

Aside from the dangerous immediate effects of drinking alcohol excessively–impaired judgment, poor coordination, alcohol poisoning, hangovers, headaches and the upped chance of hooking up with someone you wouldn’t look twice at without beer goggles–there are long-lasting effects of binge drinking. You’re upping your risk not only f or liver damage, liver disease and even breast cancer.

Even scarier? Binge drinking leads to 23,000 deaths for women and girls in the U.S. every year. You already know not to drink and drive (we hope!), so please: Don’t drink and drink and drink and drink. Life’s a lot more fun when you can remember what you did the night before anyway.

Have you ever gone out binge drinking? Has drinking alcohol ever impaired your judgment or health? Have you ever gotten sick from drinking alcohol? Tell us in the comments!

What should you do when your friends brag about drinking and driving?!

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There’s no excuse for drinking and driving – and it’s definitely not something to brag about. | Source: Shutterstock.com

I trust that all of you know that drinking and driving is dangerous. You understand the irreversible consequences that can occur from getting behind the wheel intoxicated.

While individually we know this (in addition to the fact that underage drinking at all is illegal), I’m going to guess that a number of you have a friend who doesn’t seem to think driving drunk is that big of a concern.

Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and Liberty Mutual surveyed high school junior and seniors about driving under the influence. Twenty-three percent admitted that they had driven under the influence before (whether it be alcohol, pot or illegal prescription drugs), which is pretty scary.

One thing that really stood out to me was that 19 percent of the teens said they thought that driving under the influence of alcohol actually made them better drivers. Like… WHAT?! That’s not only literally dangerous thinking, but it got me thinking about the people I knew in school who would brag about the times they’d driven drunk.

I consulted with other Gurl staffers and they also knew people who claimed to be “really good” at drunk driving – like it was a cool challenge to try. Newsflash: driving while you’re drunk is not cool or impressive. It’s just highly irresponsible. Those people got very lucky.

Not getting caught for something you shouldn’t be doing isn’t something to celebrate. Yes, thank goodness nobody was injured or hurt, but that situation never should have happened to begin with. A sober driver should have been involved.

But what do you say if you have friends bragging about how they drove home drunk the other night? It can be scary to be the one to speak up in a group conversation or confusing to know what to say so that they get the picture.

I’m usually someone who likes to laugh with the best of them, but when I hear someone talk about their drunk driving like it was NBD, I get really serious, real quick. I find it helps to be straight to the point – “That’s really not something to brag about. It’s not funny and it’s super dangerous.” Another thing you can do is research some specific statistics to really prove your point.

Sometimes when I say this, people give me a hard time or roll their eyes at me. Unfortunately, you can only do so much to change a person’s mind about something. That’s especially frustrating when you know their actions could hurt them or others. Still, at least I can tell myself I’m doing my part by reminding them about the consequences and hoping it made an impact. If they ever make a joke about it again, I’d repeat my same stance.

Seriously, drinking and driving do not mix. Ever. | Source: Shutterstock.com

If you’re in a group, I can guarantee you’re probably not the only one thinking, “What the hell is this person bragging about this for?!” It can be scary to stand up to someone, especially if its a friend of yours. There’s a good chance that when others see you not backing down, they’ll feel more comfortable swooping in to support you. Hopefully it can be an instance where peer pressure actually helps this person realize that their actions have been dangerous and unwise.

If you feel like this is happening with a lot of your friends or you’re not really getting through to them, there may be even bigger steps you can take. One thing you could do is work with your student council or guidance department to put together a presentation for your school that can really showcase the dangers.

Sometimes having a speaker who was personally affected by drunk driving come talk or hearing new statistics can be what makes a person truly realize the dangers. Being an advocate for greater education about drunk driving’s consequences can help those friends and the entire community get on the right track.

So while I know it can be a tough situation, don’t be afraid to speak up and speak from the heart whenever you hear someone bragging about something like this. I hope your friends come to realize that you are doing it from a place of caring and concern for everyone’s safety.

Bringing up the dangers of drunk driving might seem like a “buzzkill” thing to do in these situations, but believe me - it’s a thousand percent better than having someone get killed because of your friend’s risky actions.

Have you ever had a friend brag about drunk driving? What did you do? What advice do you have for someone whose friend may talk about driving drunk? Tell us in the comments!

Can Playing Beer Pong Make You Seriously Sick?

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This photo from the night of the alleged Steubenville rape went viral. | Source: Anonymous

The now-infamous Steubenville, Ohio rape case is in its first days of trial this week, and the more details emerge, the scarier it all gets.

Witnesses in the case are explaining that the victim, whose name hasn’t been revealed (thank goodness), was so drunk that she could barely walk, and that’s a big deal. Why? Because if she was that drunk, she also couldn’t legally give consent, which is really important in getting the alleged rapists convicted.

There’s been an ongoing debate in the Steubenville case as to whether or not the victim was conscious when the incident (or incidents, depending on how you look at it) occurred, and witnesses have various stories as to whether or not she was actually passed out throughout the night. But they all agree: she was in really, really bad shape. One witness said she’d never seen the victim that drunk ever before. Another witness said that the next day, the victim was crying and saying she didn’t remember anything that happened. (If you remember, the rape case came about after the accusers’ friends, who are apparently just as much dumb scumbags as they are, released pictures and tweets of the incident.)

What’s disturbing is that local police in Steubenville took 16 days–that’s over two weeks, girls–to take the victim’s clothes in for analysis in their lab. As a result, some crucial DNA evidence for the case may have been lost, and a lot of fingers are being pointed at Steubenville as a town and their strong football culture, with people insinuating that the cops may have deliberately stalled as a means to protect the Steubenville High School football players who are accused of the assault.

It’s super important to remember that regardless of reports, these guys are innocent until proven guilty. But if this girl was as wasted as it appears, then she legally was unable to give consent, which doesn’t look promising for the accused, Trent Mays and Ma’Lik Richmond.

It’s also really important to remember–and I mentioned this yesterday–that regardless of what happens, rape is not the victim’s fault. Obviously, there are situations that are safer than others, and ideally, underage and binge drinking wouldn’t happen, because they make everything murky, scary and more dangerous. But two wrongs don’t make a right: It’d be dumb for me to leave me car unlocked with a bag of money in the backseat, but it’d still be wrong for someone to steal it. Someone being inebriated doesn’t give anyone else the right to violate you, to do the wrong thing or to break the law. That’s why rape is illegal–not being a rape victim.

Do you think the Steubenville rape case was indeed rape? Do you think the victim of the Steubenville rape case had it coming? Do you think it’s ever a victim’s fault for rape? What do you think the outcome of the Steubenville rape trial will be? Tell us in the comments!

Hackers exposed crucial information on the Steubenville rape case!

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Source: ShutterStock

In today’s most obvious studies, new research says that teens are more likely to drink alcohol if their best friends do too. Um, duh. Am I the only one who came to this completely obvious conclusion without the help of a carefully conducted study?

Researchers looked at over 800 teens and found that more teens had their first alcoholic drink because their friends were doing it and not because of any alcoholic family members. And they’re not talking peer pressure here – it’s more about having access to alcohol because your friends do. So basically, or at least when it comes to drinking, your friends have more of an influence on you than your family does.

This makes a lot of sense to me. One, I’ve seen it happen a bazillion times. Two, that’s pretty much exactly what happened to me. Story time!

When I entered my freshman year of high school, I had zero interest in drinking. Alcohol freaked me out and getting drunk freaked me out even more (there was this traumatizing moment a few years back when I was on vacation and saw a naked, drunk man dancing on the beach for a huge crowd… let’s not talk about it). To me, getting wasted meant doing something stupid that would cause me to embarrass myself, throwing up (I have a phobia) and being homeless (that’s what my grandma told me).

However, I was apparently the only freshman who thought this way. No, that’s an exaggeration. My number one crush was straight-edge and a few other kids in my class stayed away from booze. But my group of besties, most of whom were older than me, drank… a lot. It made me a little nervous, but mostly I was fine with it. I was always the sober one laughing at their ridiculous antics and patting myself on the back for being so angelic.

But towards the end of freshman year, I started getting really curious about drinking. I was scared, but I also sort of wanted to try it. After all, all of my friends were doing it and they were fine – so it couldn’t be too bad, right? When my friends exchanged silly drunken stories, I felt left out. I was the only sober one and I was sick of it.

Really, you should do what you want, and not just what your friends do. | Source: ShutterStock

So, to the disappointment of my middle school besties and my crush, I started drinking. My high school BFF, V, couldn’t have been happier. I was obviously an extremely cautious drinker, never mixing different kinds of alcohol, refusing to chug or take shots and rarely having more than two drinks. V was an “experienced” drinker and could gulp down shots just as quickly as the senior boys.

She started a “game” where she forced me to drink every time she drank. At first, I played along like it was a joke… but it quickly started to get annoying. One night, I just wasn’t in the mood. When I told her I didn’t feel like it, she pushed my drink to my lips and said, “Drink, J, drink!” I snapped back, “No! Just stop, okay?” It was the last time we played the game.

Would I have started drinking if all of my friends around me weren’t doing it? Honestly, probably not. I had never had an interest in it until alcohol became readily available to me through my friends. When I started dating my first BF, that straight-edge crush, I stopped drinking entirely. And when we broke up, and I started spending time with a group of glorified alcoholics from my job (harsh but true), I started drinking again. And now that I’m with my current BF, who’s not really into that stuff? You guessed it – I’m not a big drinker anymore.

So yeah, I think your friends definitely have a huge influence on whether you’re going to drink or not – at least for me. It’s easy to get sucked into a routine that all of your besties have, even if you never had any intention of doing so. I don’t think that makes you a weak person… I think it’s sort of normal. And as obvious as this study might be, I still think it’s pretty interesting.

One thing to keep in mind? Always do what makes you happy… don’t just do what your friends are doing because it’s there and it’s happening. Trust me.

Have you ever done something just because all of your friends were doing it? Would you start drinking to fit in with your friends? Have you ever done that? Do you agree with this study? Tell us in the comments. 

Terrifying drinking mirror app

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Crazy transformation, right? | Source: DrinkSmarter.com

Okay, this new Drinking Mirror app has officially made me a little bit afraid of alcohol. Actually, it’s just made me afraid of aging in general… so, just a warning, this is probably going to freak you out.

What exactly am I talking about? In an effort to stop women from binge drinking or just drinking more alcohol than is recommended, the Scottish government released an app called the Drinking Mirror, which is a part of their Drop A Glass Size campaign. The app shows us what we’ll look like in a few years if we keep drinking too much alcohol, and it isn’t pretty.

I’m sure we’ve all heard that too much alcohol can have a negative effect on our appearances, such as weight gain and more wrinkles. When you’re young and you still have a baby-butt-smooth face, it’s easy to dismiss those warnings as something you can worry about when you get older. But seeing them played out in an actual image is a totally different thing than hearing your teacher lecture you about it during health class.

The “after” images shown in the ad for the Drinking Mirror app are kind of crazy. The faces of the women in the pictures go from looking young and pretty to looking exhausted, worn out and bloated. It’s not exactly a look that most of us are going after. And the fact that that can be achieved just by having one too many tequila shots every weekend really makes you think about whether or not the temporary fun, only to be followed by an inevitable hangover and a ton of damage to your appearance, is ultimately worth it.

I know that what your face looks like isn’t the most important thing about anyone – but this in-your-face way of educating people about the real damages of alcohol is definitely catching everyone’s attention. Basically, this app is doing what it’s supposed to do – making women reconsider having a few drinks each week. It’s a reminder that too much alcohol is affecting our bodies for the long-term, whether we realize it’s happening or not. And considering the fact that 14 million women in the US are binge drinking every month, maybe we all need that nudge.

At the moment, this app is only available on Android devices, but they’ll be coming out with an iPhone version soon. You can also check it out on their website if you’re curious to see how alcohol will make you look when you’re older. It might be worth making note of.

Are you going to try out this app? Do you think you drink too much? Does this make you nervous about drinking? Tell us in the comments.

Which is worse: drinking alcohol or smoking weed?

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A cop on a date is the worst third wheel ever. Source: Shutterstock.com

I had just started dating a guy at college when one of his friends from home came to stay with us for the weekend. I had something to do early in the morning, so I didn’t really feel like being a part of their partying, but I wanted to spend time with my new boyfriend and I thought I should make the effort to hang out with my BF’s visitor. I decided I would go, and just call it an early night. Well, that didn’t happen.

I volunteered to be the designated driver, but I explained I kind of wanted to head out a little on the early side, which everyone said was fine. When we eventually left the off-campus party, my BF’s friend decided he wanted to take his cup of booze on the walk back to the car. You may be aware that there is a little thing called an open container law, and you can’t just wander with your cup of alcohol on public property. He didn’t listen to me when I told him he had to leave the cup behind, and by a stroke of what I can only call jussssttttt awesomeeee luck, a cop drove by us and immediately stopped.

The friend wasn’t in a great position to deal with the cop and my drunk friends (who were all underage) scattered to hide. This left me with this friend who I barely knew at all and a cop who was less than pleased about this drinking violation. Next thing I know, he is getting arrested and put in the back of the cop car.

Ummm… what do I do now?! Basically I had to bail him out. I didn’t even know where the police headquarters were. It was the middle of the night and I had no cash. My other friends all pooled their money together for me, so I dropped them back off on campus and did a quick search online to try and figure out where I had to go next.

I got back in the car and my boyfriend rode with me to where I was pretty sure we had to go to bail out his friend. After I parked, we started walking toward the police headquarters, and my BF was apparently under the impression that he was going to go in and deal with it. I had to remind him that he was wasn’t 21 and going drunk into a place with cops was probably only going to add to our problems.

I could see my boyfriend’s friend on a little security camera at the main desk when I walked in to the police headquarters. He was sitting in a back room and still complaining, and the annoyed woman working at the front desk was like, “Oh, is that your boyfriend?” I just quietly said no, but felt like it was going to be too much to explain how actually – funny story – I barely knew him at all! Still, I couldn’t just leave him there, especially when I really liked my BF.

I had never posted bail for anyone and had no idea what was the usual protocol. I remember that they wanted me to sign something, but I didn’t want my name associated with anything! I wound up just kind of scribbling a signature, handing over the cash and the quickly took him with me.

When we left the front doors, he started putting on this elaborate display of gratitude, as if he’d been there for decades rather than just two hours. Whatever, I was just glad to be out of there. But wait – the cops apparently still had his phone and he wanted to go back in.

Uh, no. The last thing I was doing was letting him go back in. After the embarrassment of having to go in there the first time to get him, I had to go back yet again and request his phone. My BF and he then fought the whole way back to the car, which was just the icing on the cake of this great evening. Basically I got home about three hours later than I needed to and barely got to sleep before I had to wake up again.

I showed up the next morning to my event pretty darn tired, but I will say that in the sober light of morning, everyone was super apologetic. I have to say that looking back, I was never really mad about the whole thing because the whole night was just super weird and a little surreal. But there you have it – the worst night out I’ve ever had with a BF.

Has one of your friends ever gotten arrested while you were with them? Has a friend of your significant other ever completely ruined a night out? Tell us in the comments.

Justin Bieber Pot Pictures: Don’t Document Your Dumb Behavior!

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A new study says drinking alcohol may be worse for your brain than smoking weed is. But does that mean marijuana is safe? | Source: ShutterStock

You’ve probably heard that drinking alcohol and smoking weed are pretty bad for you, but is one worse than the other? Turns out, the answer is yes. And it’s probably not what you think.

A new study says that for teens, smoking weed is actually not as dangerous in terms of brain damage as drinking alcohol is. Researchers did a bunch of tests on 92 people between the ages of 16 and 20. Half of them already drank alcohol and used marijuana regularly, while the other half either abstained completely or kept their use down to a minimum.

Here’s what they found through brain scans over time: Teens who drank five or more alcoholic beverages twice a week or more–essentially binge drinking–had damage to their brain tissue that could cause memory loss, attention deficit problems, and issues with decision making not only immediately, but also later in life going into adulthood. (Ruh roh!) One of the researchers explained that it becomes a pretty vicious cycle when that happens: “If teens decrease their tissue health and cognitive ability to inhibit themselves, they might become more likely to engage in risky behavior like excessive substance use.” Yikes!

A separate study showed that drinking alcohol lowered test scores, and it happened differently for girls and guys. Girls had a harder time with reading comprehension and interpreting visuals, while guys just struggled to pay attention to what they were doing. (So if you planned on boozing up, we’re not going to tell you what to do–but you just might want to wait until after you take your SATs.)

Meanwhile, the test subjects who kept on smoking weed showed very little to no brain damage. Pretty interesting considering one is legal when you’re 21 and the other isn’t (depending on where you live, that is), isn’t it?

Still, don’t get too excited about the effects of marijuana (or the apparent lack thereof) just yet. The scientists in the study said that a lot of research results on marijuana haven’t been consistent because there are a lot of variables involved. “One reason is that marijuana can really vary. Different strains contain different levels of THC and other marijuana components,” one researcher explained. “For example, some studies have suggested one component, cannabidiol, may actually have neuroprotective effects.” (Basically, different types of marijuana can affect you differently–and one component of marijuana may actually be good for you, but they’re not sure.)

One could argue that if marijuana were legalized, it could be regulated the way alcohol is, so that the different ingredients and components could be recognized and understood better, but that may not happen. And while smoking weed may not have shown brain damage in this particular study, another showed that using marijuana for a long time can actually lower your I.Q., which is pretty scary.

Do you think drinking alcohol is really more harmful than smoking weed? Do you think smoking weed has long-term negative effects? If you drink alcohol or smoke weed, have you noticed a difference in your grades? Tell us in the comments!

Is smoking weed really so bad?

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Girl? Tay’s got some words of wisdom about your iPhone . . . | Source: Daniel Deme/WENN.com

Of course the number one way to prevent drunk texting is to not get drunk in the first place (and obviously if you’re under 21, drinking is illegal, guys), but we’re not here to be preachy. Luckily for you girls who are going to drink no matter what we say, we’ve got some stellar advice from everyone’s favorite Heartbreak Kid, Taylor Swift: If you’re drinking (at all!) give your phone to someone else so you’re not tempted to start typing away.

When asked to name the best person she had in her phone, Taylor Swift said, “Gwyneth Paltrow. But it means I have a strict rule that I don’t have my phone on me when I drink!” So smart, Tay! I mean, honestly? If I had Gwynnie in my phone? I’d TOTALLY be tempted to text her something stupid even after just having a hot chocolate, let alone after something alcoholic!

What do you think of Taylor Swift’s advice about drunk texting? Have you ever sent a drunk text? What happened? Tell us in the comments!

Check These Five Life Lessons From Taylor Swift!

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This wasn't exactly my scene. | Source: Shutterstock

So by the time I got to college, when most people in my dorm were well-accustomed to the taste of alcohol, if not judicious with their intake, I still didn’t drink. Totally fine for other people, just not something I was into myself. During the day, I quickly and easily made friends, hanging out in the dorm, exploring the campus, watching TV, shopping, studying, etc. But at night, I became uneasy.

Most parties at college involve alcohol, often copious amounts. Though I never felt pressure to imbibe, I did feel weird constantly turning drinks down. I didn’t think I had a good answer as to why I wasn’t drinking: it wasn’t for religious reasons, and it wasn’t because I had been in rehab. Simply not wanting to drink was a good enough reason for me, but I was afraid it wouldn’t really make sense to others. So, I did the only thing that made sense to my 18 year-old self: I started avoiding parties altogether, citing homework or a scheduled phone call to my boyfriend as my excuse.

I thought it would be like this. | Source: Shutterstock

The next year, my sophomore year, I started hanging out more with the people in my department, and, perhaps conscious of the disaster that was my freshman year, started going to parties with them.

What I wish I’d known as a Freshman was that at these parties where people are drinking out of huge red Solo Cups, no one knows if your Diet Coke has vodka in it or not. And if you’re having a good time and laughing and talking to people, you’re not going to stick out like a huge, sober thumb. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t drinking. Sometimes, if someone asked, I’d say “I’m not drinking tonight,” and that would be that. If you’re at the party, no one cares if you’re drunk or not. And, contrary to what I used to think, you won’t care as much that other people are. I had conversations with people, I witnessed funny things, I hung out, I had pizza at the end of the night, just like everyone else. It was fun.

It would have been nice to learn this in time for my freshman year of college, but man, am I glad I learned this by my sophomore year. Otherwise, those would have been a long, three years of quiet nights with earplugs, and not knowing what anyone was talking about at breakfast.

Do you feel uncomfortable around alcohol at parties? Have you found ways to have fun at parties besides drinking? Tell us everything in the comments!

Want To Know The Truth About Binge Drinking?

We’ve all had embarrassing encounters of the parental kind. But this week, Meg isn’t talking about your average embarrassing mom moment. She’s dealing with a much more serious issue—how to deal with a parent who drinks too much. And with one in four kids living with a person who has an alcohol problem, chances are that you or someone you care about is dealing with an alcoholic parent. Meg’s here to help you cope. Trust us, you are so not alone in this!

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