As common as the drinking of beverages containing alcohol is, it is often treated as if it were a special kind of behavior (Marshall 1979). For instance, in some cultures, young people are supposed to abstain from alcohol. In others, women should be very discreet about where, when, with whom, and how much they drink. Men are subject to other, generally less restrictive, norms about drinking. Alcohol is considered very important globally due to it being the single substance that is used by people throughout the world in very different ways, for ver

All cultures possess a set of ideal attitudes toward the consumption of, or abstention from, alcoholic beverages, and define the expected and prohibited behaviors while drinking (Pittman 1964). Unlike US, India essentially never accepted alcohol as a part of normal social discourse or eating behavior, nor ritualized consumption as a part of religion. Hence, there is a virtual absence of “normative patterns” of drinking alcohol and attitudes toward it. (Dube 1965), strove to identify the cultural and ideological patterns of pluralistic Indian society as traditional and nontraditional. The traditional drinking pattern reflects the tribal drinking patterns of about 8.8% of total Indian population (according to the 1981 census).

The complexity of Indian culture is reflected in drinking patterns that show wide variation across regions, rural-urban location, socioeconomic status, and religious beliefs. A longitudinal multilocation study conducted in 1976 and 1986 among university student (Mohan and Sundaram 1987) showed significant correlation with a number of different factors. Gender was especially important; the prevalence rate of alcohol consumption was eight times higher among males than females. “Age was a significant factor in the alcohol consumption pattern of both males and females; students twenty years of age or higher used more alcohol than those of younger age” (Ahuja 1982). Besides gender and age, type of institution (boarding school or day school), rural or urban background of the students, language of schooling, and course of study identified relative risk factors in alcohol-using behavior.

Factors like religion, caste, family structure, and per capita income as important correlates of alcohol consumption among both youth and the adult population. Hinduism is slowly becoming more permissive with regard to alcohol, compared other religions. Among Hindus also, there is a diversity of drinking patterns because certain castes (especially Brahmans) tend to follow the religious strictures more rigorously, whereas other castes are gradually taking on other social values, including alcohol use.

Regional differences are the main source of ethnic feelings in Spain today. “Regional cultures such as those of Catalonia, the Basque country, Castille, and Andalusia still have contrasting drinking traditions, and attachment to local beverages is intense” (Hansen 1977) . Consumption of alcoholic beverages is higher, both in amount and in frequency, in northern regions such as the Basque country, the Cantabrian coast, and Rioja, and lower in the south and the Mediterranean regions (Gili et al. 1989; Elzo 1987; Martinez and Martin 1987). Nevertheless, patterns of drinking today differ more by age group than by class or ethnic group.

Young people tend to be affected by their peers. Although people tend to conform to the expectations of others, the long-term effects of youthful peer pressure are not well documented. Similarly, the role of television and other mass media has been impossible to document. Advertising, popularly thought to increase alcohol consumption.

According to Patrick, “no matter how thorough a chemical analysis is made of trace elements in alcohol, they

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