Binge Drinking Essay example -- Drugs Alcohol Alcoholism Essays

Binge Drinking On a wet, dark, and snowy Sunday night an outsider wouldn't expect a Northeastern University campus bar to be crowded. In fact, most students can't even leave their dorms because there is too much snow. Yet a tiny pub, located barely off campus on Gainesboro Street, is packed wall to wall with students. A small community is drinking away their problems while discussing the probability of school being canceled. Many experts would describe this act as binge drinking, but any student would prefer to describe it as just a regular Sunday night. The Harvard School of Public Health has done numerous studies on college binge drinking. These studies are known as the standard for binge drinking data. They define binge drinking for men as the consumption of five or more drinks in a row at least once in the past two weeks. Women are considered binge drinkers when they consume four or more drinks in a row. This is a growing problem among college students throughout the country. According to the Harvard study, in 1999, 44 percent of college students were binge drinkers. Results of the survey prove that drinking is the most serious drug problem on college campuses. Henry Wechsler, Ph.D., was the doctor who authored the Harvard study. The term â€Å"binge drinking† was used by Wechsler and colleagues in Massachusetts several years before the study. The term is now a mainstream term used to describe drinking among college students that leads to serious problems. "Binge Drinking has so many negative effects on students, and I see it first hand. Students should be careful they don’t develop alcoholism, because then you have a serious problem,† said Danna Kobo a sophomore at Northeastern. A study by the federally appoin... ...â€Å"A lot of students tell me their depressed, and then they tell me that they’ve been drinking a lot more often lately. Since alcohol is a major depressant, this is usually where I begin in terms of helping them,† said Birnberg. The counseling center is also loaded with useful pamphlets and handouts discussing the negative effects of drinking. The U.S. Department of Education’s Higher Center for Alcohol and Drug Prevention is actively trying to fight binge drinking by students. They recommend restricting marketing and promotion of alcoholic beverages both on and off campus. They also encourage colleges to create a social, academic, and residential environment that supports health-promoting tactics. Drinking on college campuses has always been an issue, and the truth is, it will continue to be an issue for as long as young adults continue to attend college.