Binge Drinking – More Needed to Fight
August 9, 2008 No CommentsLetter to the Editor
Normal Heights
More needed to fight binge drinking
Regarding “Police review rise in rape cases/More cases linked to binge drinking” (Our Region, July 29):
It’s not clear from the article whether the spike in rape cases is a direct result of binge drinking. Is the article suggesting there is some new link between alcohol and rape? If so, the Union-Tribune is well behind the research on this one. Binge drinking is hardly new in San Diego, and the correlation between alcohol and crime, including domestic violence and sexual assault, has been well-documented. Or do the police think there has been a sharp increase in binge drinking that has also driven up the numbers of date and acquaintance rape? It’s an important distinction and the public would be well served by more in-depth reporting on the issue.
If it’s binge drinking that’s on the rise, we’ve got even more problems. I would expect to see this increase in sexual assaults accompanied by increased drunken driving and assaults of all kinds. We need to do something to make it harder to binge drink. Simply educating young people about the dangers of drinking isn’t enough.
CRISTINA LOMELI
San Diego Union Tribune
Aug 9, 2008. p.B.7
