FREE ESSAY ON HEALTH AND DRUGS

HEALTH AND DRUGS

Every day we see the effects of the drink, drunk people. Staggering, slurring, spitting
and vomiting. What is this evil hemlock? 
Whether Beer, wine or liquor, they all have the potential for disaster.
Pure ethyl alcohol (ETOH), is odorless, colorless and tasteless. Alcohol is one of the
most enigmatic products we consume today; in fact, it has been with us since the Stone
Age. The Bible alludes to Noah's getting drunk; it was a staple on the Mayflower as it
crossed the Atlantic to America. Grandfathers share their beer with toddlers sitting on
their knees while mothers tell their children to wait until they're of legal age before
they drink. By some it's considered the devil's brew, yet others use it in sacred ritual.
It has survived temperance movements in Italy, Germany, England and the United States. It
has been used as a thirst quencher, to relieve hunger, as a medication, and as a
mind-altering drug. Today, the brew plagues a very susceptible audience, college
students. 
According to Dr. Henry Wechsler, principal investigator in the Harvard study of college
drinking, 44 percent of all undergraduates in the United States binge drink--a rate that
has been fairly constant for almost 20 years. It also found that 23 percent of the men
and 17 percent of the women were frequent binge drinkers--downing a bunch of drinks three
or more times in two weeks.(College Alcohol Study Harvard School of public Health) To
understand the true basic nature of the issue, it is first necessary to define the issue.
"Binge drinking, is defined as five or more drinks for a man at any one time within a
two-week period, four or more drinks for a woman.(ACPA) This definition doesn't mean
getting falling-down drunk, says Dr. Henry Wechsler, instead, having five drinks in a row
indicates problems associated with drinking. What's more, he found that few students who
consume five, often continue to drink six or more. 
THE FACTS
An in depth survey of nearly 15,000 students at 116 universities and colleges in 39
states was conducted. Released in September, at the Harvard School of Public Health, the
survey compared college drinking today with baseline data gathered in 1993. (College
Alcohol Study Harvard School of public Health)
Among the findings:
o The proportion of drinkers who drank to get drunk increased by a third, from 39 percent
in 1993 to 52 percent in 1997.
o The proportion of drinkers who got drunk three or more times in the previous month
increased by 22 percent.
o More than one-third of the students surveyed reported driving after drinking, a 13
percent increase since 1993.
o Four out of five fraternity and sorority members were binge drinkers.
Despite highly publicized tragedies and continuing examinations of college alcohol
policies, the data indicate ... an intensification of severe drinking behavior among
college students who drink alcohol, said Henry Wechsler, Ph.D., the principal
investigator. Fraternity and sorority members, and especially students who live in the
houses, continue to be at the center of the campus alcohol culture. If colleges are to
have an impact on their alcohol problems, they must drastically change this way of
life.(College Alcohol Study Harvard School of public Health)
Academics & Risks
What one must keep in mind is that drinking is not just directly related to drunkenness,
there are a large number of other factors effected by the anarchy. It is understandable
that there could be a resulting decline in academic prowess and performance, but
violence, drugs and jail?
Tim Anderl, an Ohio University senior, says that typically, By the end of the fall,
you're broke and your grades are in the gutter.(About.com/Alcoholism) Indeed, many
students spend more money in a semester on alcohol--over $300--than they do on books.
According to the CSAP, college students spend approximately $4.2 billion annually to
purchase: 430 million gallons of alcoholic beverages, including over four billion cans of
beer.(CSAP)
There's also a correlation between drinking and grades. One study found that A students
have, on average, three drinks a week, while those making D's and F's average 11 drinks a
week.(ACPA) Research at the center on addiction and substance abuse say that alcohol is a
factor in about 41 percent of all academic problems and 28 percent of all cases of
student dropout.
The drinkers risk an injury from a fight or a fall. They also risk acquaintance rape and
the spread of AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases due to impaired judgment.
Alcohol-related car crashes are also an enormous risk. Binge Drinking, according to the
ACPA, is a contributing factor in almost half of all motor vehicle fatalities, the
leading cause of death among young Americans. Alcohol is involved in two-thirds of
college student suicides, 90 percent of campus rapes, and 95 percent of violent crimes on
college campuses.(ACPA) At the very least, many may spend the morning talking to God
through the great white telephone during a mean, painful hangover. 
Some students even suffer the consequence of death. Scott Krueger, 18, a high-achieving
freshman at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, overdosed on alcohol at a fraternity
party in September, slipped into a coma, and died three days later. Leslie Anne Baltz was
a 21-year-old honor student at the University of Virginia until November, when she drank
too much at a pre-game party, was left alone by friends to sleep it off, somehow tumbled
down a flight of stairs, hit her head, and died. Alcohol poisoning or alcohol-related
accidents killed at least five other undergraduates nationwide during the 1997 fall
term.(College Alcohol Study Harvard School of public Health) While no one counts the
number of college students who die from alcohol use, Dr. David Anderson of George Mason
University in Fairfax, Va., estimates that at least 50 die each year. 
My roommate and I went to a party, and she got drunk. She hooked up with this guy from
the fraternity and had sex with him that night. I couldn't have stopped her because she
would have gotten mad. The next day we found out that the guy is seeing someone else and
is known all around campus for taking advantage of girls when they're drunk. - Anonymous
Respondent (College Alcohol Study Harvard School of Public Health) 
Solutions
College administrators often identify student alcohol abuse as one of the biggest
challenges they face. Yet, funding for prevention programs, on the increase until 1994,
has never averaged more than a few dollars per student, not counting staff salaries.
Experts complain that many alcohol education programs seldom involve more than a few
posters, some brochures, and an Alcohol Awareness Week, all of which students say are
largely ignored. 
Bill DeJong, director of the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug
Prevention in Boston, thinks colleges have to change the way they recruit students. If
their view books show scenes of small groups socializing rather than football games,
tailgate parties, and so on, they will attract a different kind of student, he
argues.(DeJong) 
That's the strategy being adopted by the University of Rhode Island, once rated a top
party school. On a sunny fall afternoon, URI junior Denis Guay guides a tour of the
campus for prospective students and their parents to a freshman dormitory room. After
pointing out the route to the bathrooms, he states the school's alcohol policy: no
drinking anywhere on campus by anyone under 21 and only one six-pack at a time per
legal-age student in the dorm rooms. The first offense earns a fine of $50; the second,
$100; the third, suspension. (URI)
Lee and Judi Kroll, on the tour with their son Jon, were glad to hear of the
low-tolerance alcohol policy. Jon doubted the measures were actually enforced. While a
number of URI students said it was possible to discreetly drink on campus, more agreed
with sophomore Kira Edler, who said, If you get caught, there are prices to pay. As a
result, URI is less of a party school. Since 1990, kegs have been banned from campus,
alcohol prohibited from social events, and fines instituted and raised. While the number
of violations for possessing alcohol is up, other violations involving alcohol, such as
violence or vandalism, have fallen sharply. 
Colleges and universities will never rid themselves of alcohol abuse completely, Wechsler
says; instead, the goal is to change the norm. Look at what happened with smoking. No
Smoking signs are obeyed with few complaints. The designated driver, an idea unheard of
15 years ago, is now a common practice, even for partying college kids. Alcohol education
did reach some of the more moderate drinkers, experts say. Now it's time to target heavy
drinkers. 
A recent article in Time Magazine indicates the belief that respect for alcohol should
come from the home. A survey of 2,000 teenagers showed a direct relationship between teen
substance abuse and the lack of close familial connections, especially between children
and their fathers. The survey revealed a common belief of the students. According to
them, the real education should happen at home, starting well before they are teenagers,
maybe as young as age seven. (By the time you're a teen, you've stopped listening, said
one.) The best approach, they said, is for parents to try to have an ongoing discussion
with them, to listen rather than lecture and to provide a good example. 
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" I was in a coma for 8 days that was caused by acute alcohol poisoning. By now I was
know as the guy with nine lives, a title I enjoyed" (College Alcohol Study Harvard School
of public Health)
Every other night I am stirred out of slumber to be greeted by drunken room-mates and
friends. I have gotten used to college being one huge bar with an enormous cover charge.
My self, I have definitely received what I had been promised. Now aided with a plethora
of information, I can say that my concluding remarks are to be educated ones. 
Binge Drinking is an awful fact about the college life. It is a matter of time, place and
circumstance, and the college experience satisfies the setting requirements. I look at
where I am in terms of setting, and I tend to view it as summer camp. Classes are why we
are here, but when the lights go out, it is time to sneak over to the other cabins. 
The College experience is just that, an experience. One must endure and persevere through
all of it, school, relationships, late nights, drinking and drugs. It is a serious
character builder, and a lesson in conduct. I believe it is okay to experiment with
alcohol and drugs in college, but it is important to look out for your fellow students,
as only they know what is really going on. It is important to differentiate between the
experiences of our parents and ourselves. Sure, they downed a couple and maybe smoked a
little marijuana, but today the amount of drug abuse that accompanies Binge drinking is
disgusting. I have seen people that have been awake for weeks at a time, and others so
heavily sedated, they have slept for days. 
I would love for there to be some sort of resolution to all of the insanity, but I do not
think there will be. College is the first time in a young adults life where they feel
free. It is time to play house, and what better way to play than having a beer in one
hand and a female in the other. It is a time to test your limits, discover who you are
and what you are capable of. 10 beers without vomiting? Now you are a real adult!
Sources Cited
About.com "Alcoholism"
*wysiwyg://477/http://alcoholism.about.com*
ACPA "sec. 119. Binge Drinking On College Campuses"
*http://www.acpa.nche.edu/govrel/sec119.htm*
Affiliates News "Percentage of college Students Who Drink To Get Drunk is on the rise"
Nation's Health, October 1998
"College drinking" 
Dateline. 10 September 1997
"College Students And Binge Drinking"
*http://www.prc8.org/DA/collbinge.htm*
Harvard School of Public Health
*http://ww.hsph.harvard.edu*
"Info on Alcohol on Campus"
*http://library.thinkquest.org/13738/READY/alcohol.html*
Presley, C.A., Meilman, P.W., and Lyerla, R. Alcohol and Drugs on American College
Campuses: Use, Consequences, and Perceptions of the Campus Environment. Carbondale,
Illinois: Southern Illinois University, Core Institute, 1993
"Rachel's Homepage"
*http://moose.uvm.edu/~rbsmith/index.html*
Ryan, B.E., Colthurst, T., and Segars, L. College Alcohol Risk Assessment Guide. San
Diego, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Studies, UCSD Extension, 1994.
Bibliography
Binge Drinking in College, A In-Depth Look