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   FACTS ON ALCOHOL

    Mary Lynn Barber, LPCC, LICDC

    Counselor and Prevention Coordinator

    859-572-5697

FACTS:   EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL

Binge Drinking on College Campuses

• According to a 1997 national study conducted by the Harvard
  School of Public Health, nearly half of all college students surveyed drank four or five drinks in one sitting within the previous 2 weeks.⁷

• Students who live in a fraternity or sorority house are the heaviest drinkers – 86 percent of fraternity residents and 80 percent of sorority residents report binge drinking.⁸

• In a recent study, 39 percent of college women binge drank within a2-week period compared with 50 percent of college men.⁹

• Colleges with high binge drinking rates were also much more likely to attract students who were binge drinkers in high school.¹⁰

• In one multi-campus survey, white non-Hispanic students reported the highest percentage of binge drinking in a 2-week period (43.8percent), followed by Native American (40.6 percent), Hispanic(31.3 percent), Asian (22.7 percent), and black non-Hispanic (22.5percent) students. This pattern of binge drinking differences among ethnic groups is also seen in high school students.¹¹
   

Consequences of Binge Drinking¹²

• Alcohol poisoning – a severe and potentially fatal physical reaction to an alcohol overdose – is the most serious consequence of binge drinking. When excessive amounts of alcohol are consumed, the brain is deprived of oxygen. The struggle to deal with an overdose of alcohol and lack of oxygen will eventually cause the brain to shut down the voluntary functions that regulate breathing and heart rate.

• If a person is known to have consumed large quantities of alcohol in a short period of time, symptoms of alcohol poisoning include:

Vomiting
Unconsciousness
Cold, clammy, pale, or bluish skin
Slow or irregular breathing (less than 8 breaths a minute or 10 or more seconds between breaths).
 

Secondary Effects of Binge Drinking

In schools with high binge drinking rates:

• 34 percent of non-binge drinkers reported being insulted or humiliated by binge drinkers;
• 13 percent reported being pushed, hit, or assaulted;
• 54 percent reported having to take care of a drunken student;
• 68 percent were interrupted while studying; and
• 26 percent of women experienced an unwanted sexual advance.¹⁹
  
  Sources

⁷ Wechsler, Henry, Dowdall, George, Maenner, Gretchen, Gledhill-Hoyt,
Jeana, and Hang Lee, Changes in binge drinking and related problems
among American college students between 1993 and 1997: Results of the
Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, Journal of
American College Health, Volume 47, 1998.

⁸ Erenberg, Debra, Hacker, George, Problem? What Problem? Some
basic facts about the drinking culture, in Last Call for High-Risk Bar
Promotions That Target College Students: A Community Action Guide,
1997.

⁹ Lyall, Katherine, Binge Drinking in College: A Definitive Study in Binge
Drinking on American College Campuses: A New Look at an Old
Problem, August.

¹⁰ Ibid.

¹¹ National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, College Students
and Drinking, Alcohol Alert No. 29, Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, 1995.

¹² American Academy of Pediatrics, Binge Drinking, Washington, D.C.:
1999.

¹⁹ Ibid.

SAMHSA, a public health agency in the Department of Health and Human
Services, is the Federal Government’s lead agency for improving the
quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States. Further information about SAMHSA is available on the Internet at www.samhsa.gov.