snowy

Actually, it's not. In Oregon, it's legal for minors to consume alcohol in their own home with parental supervision. So having wine at home with my parents as a teen (not that I did often, my dad is allergic to sulfites) would have been completely legal. I was allowed to have wine with dinner at Thanksgiving and other special occasions where wine was served for guests. I was allowed to try my dad's beers, if I wished. When I was 19 and living in the dorms at college my mom volunteered to buy me all the liquor I liked before I went back to school, so long as I promised to use it wisely and safely (I paid for it all myself). I should note I kept to that promise.

I have to be honest--I didn't start binge drinking in any sense until I was old enough to buy for myself. Even then, it was because that was the culture I was in (college), and because that was what my peers were doing. It was not on a regular basis, and I quit doing it many moons ago. Now, I drink wine and beer now and again, only one or two, and I am very responsible about my consumption. I'm fairly sure my parents' allowance of alcohol played no role in my choices to binge drink, and it was more about belonging in the group than anything else.

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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau