According to USA Today, a video game in development for the Wii console is causing some controversy. The game is called “Beer Pong” and it mimics a college drinking game growing in popularity. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) gave the game a T-Rating, saying it was suitable for those aged 13 and up. According to the article, the game’s creators are now removing references to alcohol and changing its name to “Pong Toss.”

Connecticut’s Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal raised concerns about the inappropriate rating for the game’s original content and marketing alcohol to teenagers. In a special interview, Fox News spoke with Blumenthal and a representative from the game’s developer, JV Games. It’s interesting to see the different viewpoints side by side and to see how receptive JV Games was toward changing the game’s content.

Should game developers make games with significant drug and/or alcohol content? How do you think the ESRB should treat games with drug and alcohol content?

A study by international scientists was published recently and it’s finding show that the use of drugs is a feature of more affluent countries like the United States. The findings are horrifying because “by the age of 21, up to 99% of Europeans, 92% of Japanese, 94% of New Zealanders and 93% of people in the Americas had tasted alcohol.” And many of these countries also had a high percentage of people smoking cigarettes, smoking marijuana and even using cocaine. In the United States alone around 16% said they had used cocaine before. This is quite a bit higher than even the second highest reporting country where 4.3% of people said they had used cocaine. In addition, 42% of Americans said they had tried cannabis. Americans were more likely to smoke cigarettes with 74% saying they had tried smoking at least once in their lives. America needs more effective prevention interventions. The question is, how can we improve what we are already doing?

For someone undergoing substance abuse treatment, the process is a journey. It requires an individual to change. To achieve recovery from an addiction, the person must decide to have better choices and behaviors. Quite often, that is easier said than done. It’s hard to change. That is why to bring about sustained, long-term recovery from drugs or alcohol the individual has to be motivated for the change to happen – and then, they have to feel good enough about their new life to not regress back into their old ways.

Creating an environment for people to feel motivated to change their lives is challenging. What inspires one person may not be encouraging to someone else. If one form of treatment is unsuccessful, that doesn’t mean recovery is impossible. It just means one type of treatment wasn’t effective for that specific individual in that environment at that time. Being open to different types of treatment is essential when searching for a treatment program.

A recent type of substance abuse treatment that has gathered some attention is Reiki. The technique originated in Japan and was created by Dr. Mikao Usui. Reiki is a series of movements that are used to promote self-healing, recovery and stress reduction. While it is a holistic technique without scientific evidence to prove its effectiveness, Reiki shouldn’t be disregarded. The training involved is inclusively spiritual and challenges people to do something they haven’t before – to change. It can be used to help addicts psychologically prepare themselves for the changes they need to make and give them the tools – the discipline and motivation – to maintain those positive changes.

There are lots of obvious reasons why adults shouldn’t buy alcohol for teenagers. Drinking damages the developing brains and growing bodies of America’s youth. Alcohol takes away their sense of judgment – it can lead them to making more poor decisions. Theft, damages, and other crimes committed by young adults are often the result of alcoholism. In other cases, the effects of alcohol can be so intense that many teens don’t even live to get the chance to go into rehab.

Unfortunately, those reasons alone aren’t enough to stop some adults from giving teenagers access to alcohol. A Washington Post story informs us that a young, nineteen year old woman was able to stand outside of a convenience store and ask others to purchase alcohol for her. Shockingly enough, people really did buy the alcohol for her, even though she was clearly underage.

The people who bought into her scheme were in for a real surprise – she was reported to be working undercover for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. All of the offenders were arrested for their illegal actions.

It’s sad that it takes measures like these to insure our communities stop giving teenagers and young adults who are underage access to alcohol. With any luck, these tactics will serve as a wake-up call for communities everywhere.