“The Frat Boy Butt Chug”
An unsafe drinking exercise called “butt chugging” resulted in a University of Tennessee student being sent to the hospital with severe alcohol poisoning over this past weekend.
Early Saturday morning a 20-year-old Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity brother named, Alexander P. Broughton, was taken to the emergency room with a blood-alcohol level way over .4. The Kentucky News Sentinel reported that Alexander Broughton consumed the alcohol by butt chugging. The Sentinel’s report stated that Broughton appeared to be “extremely intoxicated and showed signs of physical and possible sexual assault”. The term “butt chugging” is defined as when a person ingests fluid, in this case alcohol, into his or her rectum with a tube or hose. It is believed that this form of alcohol consumption increases the alcohol’s effects and its potency.
A Columbia Health forum called “Go Ask Alice” covered the issue of butt chugging back in 2006. This health forum states that “Because the primary job of the intestines is to absorb nutrients into the body, if you put alcohol directly into your colon, it will be absorbed much more rapidly than it would be if it entered your body orally”. It also describes but chugging as very dangerous because “it can make you very drunk, very quickly. Because everyone’s body is different, it’s hard to judge how much or how quickly an alcohol suppository would affect one person.”
After this most recent butt chugging episode, Broughton was released from hospital care on Sunday afternoon, and his fraternity was put on a 30-day administrative suspension by Pi Kappa Alpha International, awaiting a decision on whether the action will be permanent. The University of Tennessee has since released the following statement:
“University officials are currently conduction an investigation into allegations involving the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity chapter and incidents that occurred over the weekend. Due to the gravity of the allegations, interim sanctions have already been imposed upon the chapter and will remain in effect until the investigation is concluded and final reports are available.”
