College administrators aren’t trying hard enough to reduce students’ heavy drinking, at least not with the community-based strategies the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommended in 2002, according to a new study described by USA Today. The study — “Implementation of NIAAA College Drinking Task Force Recommendations: How Are Colleges Doing 6 Years Later?” — showed that 98 percent of colleges were conducting educational programs on drinking but only 33 percent were monitoring illegal sales and just 15 percent were limiting retail outlets. The journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research published the study, which was based on a survey of administrators at 351 four-year colleges.
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2 Responses to Colleges Haven’t Widely Adopted Strategies to Control Drinking, Study Finds
rick1952 - July 28, 2010 at 4:46 pm
How do colleges monitor illegal sales or limit retail outlets? Does this study mean that colleges are supposed to lobby law enforcement and challenge zoning regulations? I have heard about some community wide efforts to reduce illegal sales and limit retail outlets but I have not read about their effectiveness. (And, I am no fan of the Amythest Network initiative.)What I do know is that social norms campaigns that are adequately resourced can have a positive impact on reducing alcohol abuse. I have read enough in the literature about that to know it is worth our time and resources. Now, will the NIAA work to provide to colleges a lot more resources to ramp up social norms campaigns?
fullprof99 - July 28, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Our whole approach to drinking is silly. In Europe the age for beer/wine is 16, and since kids can drink in legal establishments they have professionals watching out for them and assuring that they don’t overindulge. Something similar was the case in many of the states when the drinking age was 18, though 16 would have been better since you wouldn’t have had the problem of 18 year old buying for younger teens. I would suggest going to a legal age of 16 with no package sales allowed to those under, say, 21. This would keep beer and wine away from younger kids and allow the 16 year olds to develop sensible habits.