To some, this is a shared opinion. To others, I have a misconstrued notion of the activity.
I'll leave the obvious points out, for the sake of brevity. We all know of the effects alcohol has on your body, and we all know that it stunts your concept of personal space, makes your breath smell terrible, and leaves you reeling the morning after.
While those should serve as valid deterring factors, I have a couple more to add.
1) The Emotion Excuse
A lot of people use being drunk as a medium to talk about their barefaced emotions without fear of repercussion or judgment. Sorry, but if you can't bring these things up without being under the influence, you have some work to do. I believe everyone can be emotionally aware and open, it just takes time and A LOT of effort. Most people aren't willing to put in said effort, and that's only to their detriment. The inability to be emotionally available will affect friendships and relationships. Don't use a crutch to explore a basic human instinct that's been suppressed.
2) The "But I Was Drunk" Excuse
A lot of people just use "being drunk" as the excuse itself. Are you kidding me? If you are under the influence, and end up hurting yourself or somebody else, it's 100% on you. Not your friends (next point), not the alcohol, YOU. YOU made the decision to become intoxicated. YOU made the decision to potentially put yourself in a place of vulnerability, YOU decided to do something you might regret afterwards.
Obviously I'm not referring to being drugged here, I simply mean that if you are intoxicated, your reactions and decision making skills are impaired. And that can always go very, very badly. At Becker, we had a student casualty a year or two ago, because they were drunk at the St. Patrick's Day parade in Boston. The circumstances are unfortunate, and no one deserves to die that young. But if you are putting yourself in these scenarios, you can't blame that on the alcohol.
A young, drunk driver who wraps himself around a tree and mistakenly ends his own life was not "taken too young." They PUT themselves in that situation. Be aware of your surroundings, and make good decisions. Or hey, maybe just decrease your chances of doing something dumb by not drinking... Just a thought...
3) The Friend Excuse
The fact that you brought a friend or Designated Driver is no excuse to get yourself even more intoxicated than need be. You are an adult (hopefully), and do you really think it's fair to someone else when they have to literally take care of you because you're incapable of doing it yourself? It would be fine under other circumstances but you PUT yourself in this comatose, brain dead state (blackout drunk).
They are not obligated to a) watch over you and prevent you from doing something dumb, b) protect you from anything at all, c) clean any excretion-based mess you've made, or any mess at all for that matter, d) make sure you stay alive. You're a functioning human being, keep it that way. It doesn't matter if they're willing to take care of you as if you're a three year old, it doesn't make it fair.
My main reason for avoiding alcohol is that my parents don't drink, so I grew up in a household that didn't feature alcohol. When I saw how it affected my friends, and the effects it had, it solidified that thought process. The upsides of alcohol (fun, being social, opening up, etc. etc.) can all be accomplished organically, without the aid of any substance at all. The downsides and risks of the activity are far too great a tradeoff to make any sense to me. That being said, to each their own, and "live and let live."
I have a very low opinion of alcohol, but I'm not going to try and stop people from drinking. Know the potential outcomes, know the advantages and disadvantages, and make informed decisions. If you do something stupid, just remember that you'll have to live with the consequences.
