Why do Students Drink?

Not water. Or milk. Or Propel (ew).
Alcohol.
I'm biased...I have a natural aversion to alcohol because I am a Muslim. But my aversion is not unjustified--God knows the dangers of alcohol, so he made it forbidden, and I've always trusted God.
Without talking about it, I'll say I've had my fair share of alcohol-related problems. Nothing that I did was a result of anyone else's bad choices but my own. Now though, and for some time, I can say that I have lived alcohol free, and felt more free than I ever did before.
Let's make something very clear: students do not go to a martini bar and delicately sip a dry high ball, or go to a fancy wine bar and have one, $14 glass of wine. They drink low quality, cheap beer by the gallon, all in the hopes of repairing some socially-retarded upbringing, or socially-incapable attitude, or some other reason. "To have fun", and they inevitable get drunk. Students of today are not social drinkers.
And we cannot simultaneously tell them we think they are valuable and then tell them it is legal for them to drink at 18. Tell them, with our laws, that we think they should be able to handle all the dangers and the results of drinking the way college kids of today drink. We contradict ourselves as administrators and educators by pushing for a law that sends a dangerous and wrong message: you can and should drink at 18.
1,400 deaths per pear. That's 3.8 deaths a day. 28 students per state. Imagine the wealth of love, friendships, family relationships, potential, that is wasted simply because students choose to drink alcohol.
70,000 victims of rape or sexual assault. Rape doesn't just affect a victim. A person who commits rape while intoxicated generally did not wake up that morning thinking he would rape someone, and ultimately, it changes how he looks at himself and how people will look at him forever. A campus's feeling of security can be forever altered by just one rape case. But undoubtedly, rape affects the victim more than it affects anyone else. Nightmares, inability to concentrate, paranoia, insomnia, and other problems eventually lead nearly half of all victims of rape to leave college.
110,000 arrests related to alcohol. Leave college with your diploma, not an arrest record.
500,000 injuries, and 600,000 assaults.
400,000 students who had unprotected sex. Of the 13 industrialized nations, the U.S. leads in unwanted pregnancies, HIV infection, herpes infection, and the acquisition of other sexually transmitted diseases.
2.1 million students drove drunk. The most dangerous version of Russian roulette, driving drunk and then having an accident as a result has heavy implications for everyone involved.
1.2% of students attempted suicide while drunk. Stress from college life, undiagnosed mental disorders, and depression plague our students. Drinking can bring these out in the most unhealthy way possible.
So, what of all this?
If none of these students were drinking, you could probably eliminate or substantially reduce the affects of alcohol on campuses.
I think it is probably unlikely that students will stop drinking altogether, but I also think that, without the proper support, students will not ever drink responsibly.
What does it mean to drink responsibly?
Drinking responsibly means not getting drunk. Drinking responsibly means not drinking and driving.