Binge Drinking Rates Skyrocket

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen Mar 27, 2007

A recent Columbia University study found that binge drinking and drug abuse on U.S. college campuses has reached more dangerous levels than ever. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, almost half of all full time college students binge drink or abuse illegal or prescription drugs. Almost a quarter of students meet the medical criteria for substance abuse, which is over twice the rate of the general population.

I'm no expert on drug and alcohol abuse, but I am a concerned educator who has spent an awful lot of time on college campuses. I tend to be pretty skeptical of the media's over-hyped "scare of the week" stories-- bird flu, SARS, poisonous peanut butter, or whatever it is that's supposed to be killing us now. But in my experience, the binge drinking and drug abuse issue isn't a bunch of media hype. This is something that's deeply impacting the lives of college students and the culture of college campuses.

Several years ago, Colorado State University (where I teach) was shaken deeply by the alcohol poisoning death of Samantha Spady. Read about my thoughts about this binge drinking tragedy and about the issue in general.

What should be done about this crisis? Part of the issue is an individual one, and students need to take responsibility for their behavior and know their limit when it comes to alcohol. But the issue goes beyond individual behavior. Something needs to be done about the culture of college campuses to prevent these tragedies and to stop alcohol from being such a major part of the the college life experience. I'm no expert, but what I do know is we can't just dismiss this as normal or expected college behavior. It's gone beyond that, and we need to make a change.