9 Hokkaido students hospitalized with alcohol poisoning

Sounds like a great party. The fallen 9 will become legends I am sure :)

You'd be surprised at how many Japanese have been taken to hospital after drinking too much.

Haven't been in Tokyo for a while, but it used to be common place to see a group of young people comforting their friend who was on the ground after too much drink.

Nice that they stuck around and maybe went to the hospital with him, but it would have been even easier if they had said. "come on, I think you've had enough" quite a few drinks earlier.

Sorry. what? Drunk students is news?

Host: -Welcome every one, Kampaii!!

Students 1 to 9: -BANZAIII!

Alcohol poisoning is no joke. At a party I attended in my younger days, one lad - normally the life and soul of the party - decided he'd try the whisky another guest had brought along, instead of his usual beer. He was lucky someone noticed that he had not merely passed out, but was having convulsions. We called a doctor, who diagnosed acute alcohol poisoning and literally saved the fool's life.

We had many parties after that, but that lad was never again left alone with the whisky bottle.

Alcohol is a poison. Nice in small quantities, though.

Teens and twenties often think themselves indestructible. Had they learned about drinking responsibly(in MODERATION ) from their parents, they would be less likely to do this stupid binge-drinking. Societies that preach abstention or prohibition only promote such over-drinking. Hmmm, all things in MODERATION is common sense.

Upperclassmen pressuring lowerclassmen to drink, especially the girls. See it all the time out here in University Land. A lot of upperclassmen are total losers that hang around preying on the freshmen girls until they're nearly 30. First-year students are too young to drink so some of the upperclassmen should be arrested.

whats with all the thumbs down for people who think drinking yourself into a stupor or worse is bad? thats sick. according to the news, the fourth year students were HAZING first year students and that is against the law in my country. go ahead, thumbs down away for those who think it is not okay to drink yourself brain-dead.

unconscious in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest. Im no doctor, but when a person has cardiopulmonary arrest doesn't that mean the heart has stopped (meaning dead)? SO how in the world can the person be unconscious? Who writes this stuff?

How on Earth do you drink to a state of cardiopulmonary arrest? I've been wasted to the point I had nothing else left in my stomach but cardiopulmonary arrest!? Wow! What the hell were they drinking?

This is too dumb.

Societies that preach abstention or prohibition only promote such over-drinking. @Herve Nmn L'Eisa Japan is definitely NOT one of those kinds of societies but there is rampant over-drinking...Fail to see your point.. Look at all the advertising of people drinking.

I am surprised this is in the news because no one died. Alcohol is a poison as are many other things we often consume. Somebody said the poison is in the dosage. The danger of alcohol is that the amount that kills is not that great. It is not that hard to overdose and die and every year many students do die.

Now what really would be news would be someone being arrested and punished for selling alcohol to someone under 20, which is against the law, or and under-20 being punished for buying.

It is hard to give an accurate quantity, but let's consider a small Japanese girl, maybe about 40kg. A mere10-12 shots in quick succession could be enough to be fatal.

Note: I believe in comparison the LD50 of a certain illegal drug popular overseas is around 2kg, far more than anyone would ever consume. In contrast the LD50 of alcohol is all too frequently consumed.

ErikLars, the abstention to which I was referring is for young adults. Teens are told, "No drinking or smoking until age 20", as if that will deter them, but indeed they see "adults" often drinking to excess. This "Legal age" concept is like unto keeping a dog on a chain. When let off the chain(which makes the dog a bit crazy), the dog runs wild, much like the new over-20's celebrating their long-awaited freedom. Instead, if young people are taught about drinking in moderation by their parents, then they would be less likely to binge.

Growing up, my parents(who were medical doctors ) allowed my siblings and I ONE glass of wine occasionally with dinner or on special occasions. So, we learned to drink responsibly. We enjoy a drink or two, sometimes more, but not to excess. My point is that young people learn responsibility when responsibility is given, and allowed a measure of freedom. Teens are capable of learning responsibility. The parents have the responsibility of teaching by their example.

Teens and twenties often think themselves indestructible. Had they learned about drinking responsibly(in MODERATION ) from their parents, they would be less likely to do this stupid binge-drinking. Societies that preach abstention or prohibition only promote such over-drinking. Hmmm, all things in MODERATION is common sense.

Ever heard of a thing called peer pressure? You know, it's actually kind of a BIG thing in Japan.

It's probably not so cool to go to a drinking party and say "My mommy said I could only have one glass of wine."

The Shodai Amefuto team includes 33 female managers. That is an incredible number that shows how large and powerful the team is in their campus club culture. I would like more information on how those women fared.

Poor kids. A great many of us have done it once at least. For most, just the once is all it takes and you never do it again. I hope they all make a full recovery. Stupid thing to do but cant claim to have never been in nearly as bad a state myself in my younger years either.

Yasukuni's right, that first week of school in April is particularly ugly. I used to work in Waseda & had the misfortune to be back this April. Nothing's changed - gotta watch out for the platform pizzas...

Also the younger students are underage drinkers... shocking, I never did that....

"Unconscious in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest" most likely means brain dead, so I doubt it will be remembered as a "great party".

Alcol is poisonous to the body and "getting drunk" is the body's reaction to the poison. When you ignore those warnings your body is trying to tell you and continue to drink alcohol, you can literally poison yourself to death.

Nice that they stuck around and maybe went to the hospital with him, but it would have been even easier if they had said. "come on, I think you've had enough" quite a few drinks earlier.

One of the first things to go during the initial stages of alcohol poisoning (referred to euphemistically as "being tipsy") is your ability to think rationally. Odds are those around him were more interested in what color his next round of vomit would be than wonder whether he was going into medical distress or not.

Nice to see the youth of today are as weak at drinking as the elderly salary men in the late night train stations..!

Maybe they were drinking Polish Wodka? That stuff is sold here in foreign liquor shops as "Rectified Spirit" (Spirytus rektyfikowany). 96% Alcohol! Had a glass thrust at me at Hanami a few years back and boy did I regret it the next day...

Once again the boooze angel flys and strikes..

The risk one take while drinking in public

People need only know their limits. The problem with alcohol is the more drunk you become the more your IQ slides, which leads to more drinking beyond your limit.

No one can force you to drink without physically shoving a tube or funnel down your throat.

College American Football Club? Hmmmmmm....seems like they were watching to many American college movies and tried to copy.....

Gee I missed out on Football barbecues never cared much for sports and wasn't all that social. So I waited until I was in the Marine Corps. Never ended up in the hospital,not really certain why. After all there were times of walking unconcious. Still I always got back in one piece,undamaged, not even the uniform or the shoes, beyond nearly heaving and back to living the next morning. But the that was only weekend drinking. The rest of the week I would rather read a book. I know I was weird.

But young people drinking, not exactly shocking. I don't drink anything stronger than Lipton tea now. So I guess I could preach about the evils of Alcohol, but I am not just quite so mean. Just another way to weed out the gene pool. Either they will survive it, or they will not, living is alsways a risky business. Some of the risk we cause ourselves.

Had a glass thrust at me at Hanami a few years back and boy did I regret it the next day...

It was the korean stuff that got me one time. Dont know what it was, but have never drunk anything with korean characters on the bottle since!

sillygirl - you are absolutely right. I think it is just that most of us can remember being 18/19 (14??!) and how utterly boneheaded we were. This is just something you have to go through and learn and hopefully hopefully no-one gets seriously hurt or killed in the process.

In Glasgow where I live, that's normal moderate drinking

hee hee! You got that right! I went to a birthday party in Glasgow once. It blew me away! The birthday boy knew drinking games from all over the world - and he was the parish PRIEST!!!

A lot of upperclassmen are total losers that hang around preying on the freshmen girls until they're nearly 30

Interesting. I've never seen it here. Home? Indeed. Japan and 30? Nope. Eight year rule where I teach.

Kids will be kids. Doesn't excuse their stupidity but why point the finger at anyone but the people who drank far too much? Hopefully they've learned their lesson.

What happened to the days when we (students) came back from a night of heavy indulgence, held the porcelain throne, made several offerings, and swore never to drink again? What were they drinking? Sounds like it was tainted by some lab rats. Drinking rot-gut in any quantity will cause medical emergencies. Hope they all survive and commit to drinking responsibly.

Doctors say that one freshman is unconscious in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest

Probably mean to say he's on life support. Cardiopulmonary arrest for more than a few minutes = dead.

Alcohol can be very dangerous in the wrong hands. People, be careful! Drink responsibly and don't drive when drinking. Common sense but so often ignored.

Stupid kids

stomach pump is goooooddddddd

Alcohol for industrial use?

I know the way japanese people drinks....

They drink lots... but in this case it must be alcohol not for human use..

I'll be very surprised with so many people drinking and not one had alcohol poison. This is Japan with Pride. After-all everyone survive and grown and ready for the real world. Keep up the party! I'll crash the next one!

sounds like they mixed alcohol with hand sterilizer

What were they drinking? I have had several friends and aquaintances with stomach pumping stories from alcohol poisoning but never drinking to the point of coma or pulmonary arrest. That's insane

Alcohol will be the next pariah to be ousted after cigarettes and fast food..

Brain death? Cardio pulmonary arrest? - In Glasgow where I live, that's normal moderate drinking - it certainly wouldn't be in the news unless you murdered someone as well.

hahaha choice! You are only young once fellas....

If you can't hold your drink don't

Sound like a bunch of 2-pot screamers!

this kind of behavior now gets you arrested in my country. this is just so sick.

Boyz will be boyz?? and drunks girlz will be puking on these boyz and vice a versa??