By Emily Sullivan
Opinion Editor
When I think about a college party, I imagine red Solo cups on the ground and crushed beer cans everywhere. I imagine people acting stupid and music so loud the vibrations can be felt throughout the room.
The last thing I think of is people ingesting alcohol through their rectums.
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably rereading the last sentence praying that I’m joking around and hoping people aren’t that stupid.
Sadly, I’m not joking. Some people really are that stupid.
Some college students are using alcohol enemas to get drunk, according to a Sept. 27 CNN Health article. Basically, a small tube is inserted into someone’s rectum and then they proceed to pour the alcohol directly into their colon.
When we drink alcohol, we have an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase in our stomach and liver that breaks down the alcohol so it becomes less toxic. But when you ingest the alcohol into your colon, it goes straight into your blood stream and gets you drunk faster, according to the same article.
Sure, the alcohol will eventually get to the liver, but without the alcohol dehydrogenase, the toxin is too much for our livers to handle.
Students at the University of Tennessee are really getting involved with this new invention. A student from the university was brought into a hospital with a blood alcohol level of 0.40, five times the legal limit. Doctors call this the “death zone,” according to the CNN Health article.
I’m not foolish enough to believe that college students, of age or not, aren’t going out and getting drunk. It happens here at St. Bonaventure and many other campuses. But I don’t understand why students are starting to go through such ridiculous lengths to get drunk.
Getting wasted is dangerous enough as it is. If you drink too much, your body will get overwhelmed with alcohol. A rough night of drinking doesn’t always end in a hangover; the consequences can be so much more dangerous than that like alcohol poisoning, serious injuries or even death.
Why are we increasing the risk by pouring alcohol into our butts? Is being drunk really worth it?
Students who were asked about alcohol enemas on the Tennessee campus acted as though it was some big joke and that it didn’t really happen, according to a Sept. 29 ABC News article.
Alcohol enemas have been used and referenced on several different occasions in popular culture. Celebrities, such as the ones that star in “Jackass,” are known for trying this particular stunt in movies, according to the ABC News article.
But college isn’t a movie. This is dangerous stuff. The people in “Jackass” are actors and comedians who have medical assistance standing by. At a college party, you’re lucky if there is one sober person around to call an ambulance. If others are intoxicated, they may not realize how stupid the idea of ingesting alcohol through the rectum really is.
Come on, people.
Pull your heads (and the tubes) out of your butts and smarten up.
