College Party Crackdown: UK gets serious about freshman drinking

We can't speak for the US, where drinking laws are such that when you're finally legal you have a hairline receding more than a North Atlantic tide, but in Canada and the UK, you're able to drink, drive and vote all under the age of 20 (perhaps even in the same day if you have lots of errands to run)

In the UK, "freshers", ("frosh" in Canada, "freshmen" in the US) such as the girl seen here, taking a much needed study break, have been known to dull the rigors of those stressful first two weeks of class registration and receipt of more than three course syllabuses, by tilting the wrist. Now, the UK government is threatening a freshman orientation crackdown worse than when your Visa's declined at the corner bar and you've donned a hairnet and helped with the dishes.

According to a Sunday Times report, however, hypocrisy abounds as Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, as a drunk teen (hencforce known for his dry wit), purportedly set fire to a greenhouse full of award-winning (?) cacti and PM Gordon Brown, while in student government fought against a proposal to cut student grants because recipients were spending too much money on hooch.

At Durham College, one social group called the "The Diced Carrot Club", (not a gathering celebrating the Vegan lifestyle and comcomitant hairy legs), is reputed to encourage members to drink until they are sick, not surprising really when you consider how prevalent boozing culture is across the pond and how during your formative years you need to get up speed--- it's the UK afterall, which gave us 'Bog Snorkeling', (whose genesis can only be explained as a result of the drink) as well as sports that take place in a pub rather than on a field.

A liver specialist at Newcastle U, confided to the PM over ginseng tea that "Students are being positively encouraged to go out and get blind drunk", which is the order of the day on this side of the Atlantic as spring break is rapidly upon us.

For our UK readers, 'Spring Break' is the time when NAFTA trade restrictions are violated by an influx of cheap women across the Mexican border, looking to bathe in tequila and take advantage of the lax drinking laws before returning to their studies.

According to a Downing Street responsible drinking advocate (read: buzzkill) "Many young people are away from home for the first time and are impressionable."