Chris Duhon has had
the charges of under-age drinking dropped. You may remember he was cited for
having a drink on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill on Halloween. Natalie Peacock, a clinical instructor and counselor with the Duke Addiction Programs at Duke Medical Center,
said Duhon drinks "four to seven" beers a week, but does not have a
problem with alcohol.
As we have said several times, and when Duhon and Joseph Forte got ticketed,
drinking is a fairly typical college activity. We've also questioned the
wisdom of allowing 18 year olds to join the military and kill people, but not to
buy alcohol. Old enough to shoot, old enough for shots.
Anyway, though both cases were as a result of a violation of the law, they are still ridiculous, and since drinking is normal college
behavior - whether desirable or not - we don't think it's really worth worrying
about. Obviously drinking and driving is a different matter-
what Tamar Slay did and what
Phil Ford did twice endangers innocent people and cannot be tolerated.
But these guys aren't children. They can sit and drink a beer. Unless
their behavior is a problem, why is it an issue?