Teen drinking

Lindsay Lohan Drinking at any age is not a simple right/wrong issue, and media writers are not really in a position to judge anyone - though that doesn’t stop many of them. But celebrities can help bring more attention to issues like teen drinking.

Lindsay Lohan [photo] recently was quoted in People magazine about her drinking and partying: “I’ve been going to AA, for a year by the way. It’s no one’s business. That’s why it’s anonymous! I haven’t had a drink in seven days. Or anything. I’m not even legal, so why would I? I don’t drink when I go to clubs. I drink with my friends at home, but there’s no need to.

“I feel better not drinking. It’s more fun. I just wanted to, like, find a balance. I was too caught up. I was like going out just to get it out of my system. I was going out too much and I knew that, and I have more to live for than that. I work, I act, I have a living. That’s what I do every day. I work every single day.”

In his article “What can Lindsay Lohan’s mom teach us about kids and alcohol?“, Beverly Hills addictions expert Dr. Marc F. Kern notes, “Millions of people around the world still believe that the only choice for someone like Lindsay is AA. But is it? Does it really work? Does it really change a young person’s drinking behavior or does it only foster black and white notions that become self-fulfilling prophecies?”

Fortunately, there are alternatives to having to go to a group of strangers and identify yourself as an alcoholic [or drug addict, if you go to Narcotics Anonymous meetings] and promising to be totally abstinent.

A number of highly talented people like Lindsay Lohan may have both external and inner pressures to use alcohol or other substances to cope, as I note in my articles Actors and Addiction and Gifted, Talented, Addicted.

Ellie Drake An older post on this blog talks about teens Katelyne Frink and Kayle Light [photo], who are making a video on the topic - see Doing something about underage drinking