PROGRAM TARGETS ADDICTION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

DARTMOUTH -- The adventure of going to college is one layered with pitfalls

While there are students who are able to control themselves and
maintain a lifestyle of moderation, there is also the other end of
the spectrum filled with students who binge drink, rely on drugs to
relax or gamble away every penny.

For those students, the AdCare North Dartmouth Outpatient Clinic at
88 Faunce Corner Road is offering a College Substance Abuse Education Group.

Administered by Director of Outpatient Services Alicen J. McGowan,
the group began as a pilot program in September with six University
of Massachusetts Dartmouth students and grew this January, with the
start of a new semester, to 12 students from UMass Dartmouth,
Providence College, Bristol Community College and Massasoit
Community College. Enrollment in the program is ongoing.

McGowan, who developed the program to have the feel of a college
class in order to make it as comfortable as possible for students,
said it is aimed at students who have reached an extreme of
substance abuse, with some students coming to the program through
court referrals or at the request of parents.

"There is a pressing need to tell young people about the dangers of
drug and alcohol abuse," McGowan said.

Students in the program meet once a week for an hour and a half as a
group with McGowan and also once a week individually with a
counselor. For students in the program from UMass Dartmouth, the
weekly sessions are supplemented with the school's counseling department.

Program sessions range from topics on why the participants feel they
need alcohol to gateway effects of marijuana and the effects of
cocaine and other opiates on the body. McGowan also discusses the
dangers of prescription drugs such as Oxycontin and how they can
connect to heroin abuse.

"The bottom line is there's nothing wrong with having a drink if the
body can handle it," McGowan said. "The problem is someone who is
drinking every day to cope with something."

McGowan knows college students have to deal with more than just
drugs and alcohol. So sessions on anger management, stress reduction
and dealing with peer pressure are also offered.

McGowan said a session has been added to deal with gambling, a
growing problem on college campuses where high-stakes poker and
online gambling is becoming all the rage.

"Gambling is in, and I'm afraid it's going to get much bigger," McGowan said.

In many cases, McGowan said, there are two hurdles the participants
need to clear while in the program.

"The first challenge is to get people to recognize the problem,"
McGowan said. "The next challenge is get them to understand the problem."

As an example, McGowan tries stressing to students that just because
alcoholism doesn't exist in their family it doesn't mean they are
exempt from the problem.

"It's not just hereditary. There is a second way (to become
dependent on alcohol)," McGowan said. "If you keep consuming, it can
change your neurodependency.