REPORT HITS STUDENTS' USE OF ALCOHOL

Colleges Urged To Step Up And Combat Binge Drinking, Prescription Drug Abuse

Substance abuse on college campuses is nothing new, but a new report
suggests it is taking a more extreme and dangerous form, with higher
rates of frequent binge drinking and prescription drug abuse, and
more negative consequences for students such as arrests and risky
sexual behavior.

The comprehensive report ties together a range of recent research on
college substance abuse, supplemented with some of its own new survey data.

The report, by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
at Columbia University, argues substance abuse isn't an inevitable
rite of passage for young adults. Rather, it argues a particular
culture of excessive consumption has flourished on college campuses
and calls on educators to take bolder stands against students and
alumni to combat it.

"If they make this a priority they can do something about it," said
Joseph Califano, chairman and president of the center, who among
other steps called on colleges and the NCAA to stop allowing alcohol
advertising during high-profile events like the NCAA men's basketball
tournament.

The report, being released today, relies largely on research that has
already appeared in various forms, but assembles it to emphasize
findings particular to college students.

Among the highlights:

The proportion of students who drink (about 68 percent) and binge
drink (40 percent) has changed little since 1993. But there have been
substantial increases in the number of students who binge drink
frequently (take five drinks at a time, three or more times in two
weeks), who drink 10 or more times a month, and who get drunk three
or more times in a month.

Though still used by far fewer students than alcohol, hundreds of
thousands more students are abusing prescription drugs including
Ritalin, Adderall and OxyContin than during the early 1990s. The
proportion of students using marijuana daily has more than doubled to
about 4 percent.

Analyzing outside survey data, the center calculated 23 percent of
college students meet the medical criteria for substance abuse or
dependence. That's about triple the proportion in the general population.

Young adults in general have higher abuse rates, so a higher rate for
college students is to be expected. But other research indicates that
college students drink more than high school peers who don't go to
college, said Henry Wechsler of the Harvard School of Public Health,
who published similar findings in 2002.

College administrators often say they know campus substance abuse is
a problem but say there is little they can do.

But the report's authors say it's a question of commitment.

"Things do work, it's just having the will and time and money to
implement them," said Roger Vaughan, a Columbia biostatistician
involved in the report. "People need to step up and realize this is
not a rite of passage; this is not something we should tolerate. If
it keeps going, we're going to destroy our best and brightest."