October 2005

Alcohol Policies on Campus

Colleges and universities are now in full swing as summer has officially come to an end. Unfortunately, with the start of school also comes the start of heavy drinking for many Canadian students. Barrett Seaman explains, in his recently released book, Binge: What Your College Student Won’t Tell You, that while alcohol abuse among students is nothing new, binge drinking is more prevalent and deadly today. This observation is echoed by the recently released 2004 Canadian Campus Survey, a summary of 6,282 full-time students from 40 universities across Canada. Produced by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and covered on such media as CFTR 680 News and the Toronto Star, the Canadian Campus survey shows quite clearly that students are over-consuming and putting themselves at great risks.

Of great concern to those in the substance abuse prevention field is the statistic that 32% of undergraduates reported patterns of harmful drinking. This may include such signs as dependent drinking, being unable to stop drinking, failing to perform normal everyday activities or needing a drink first thing in the morning. With more drinking comes more problems as the survey found that 10% of those surveyed reported alcohol-related assault, nearly 10% reported alcohol-related sexual harassment and 14% reported unplanned sexual relations due to alcohol. Students have witnessed such incidences among classmates including getting into hot tubs while very drunk risking drowning and dehydration; getting into cabs without money, resulting in being ejected in dangerous neighbourhoods; and disappearing behind closed doors with members of the opposite sex while in an intoxicated state risking sexual assault.

"Reports of alcohol-related harms are not trivial," according to Dr. Adlaf, research scientist at CAMH and associate professor, Department of Public Health Sciences and Psychiatry, University of Toronto, who conducted the study along with colleagues across Canada. "Indeed, the 10% of students who report such consequences represent some 64,000 students."

Results of the survey indicate that universities themselves have a role in the behaviour of students. One important role is the development and enforcement of effective alcohol policies as one-quarter of students surveyed believe campus alcohol policies are not enforced. According to co-investigator Dr. Louis Gliksman, Director of Social, Prevention and Health Policy Research at CAMH and Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, universities have to assume a larger role in the presence of alcohol on their campuses. "While we are aware that some universities prohibit alcohol in residences and that many have begun ‘dry frosh week,’ the numbers show that more needs to be done on the part of universities together with the communities of which the universities are part."

Dr. Louis Gliksman will be hosting the APOLNET Listserv during the month of October on Harmful Drinking and Campus Alcohol Policies. Stay tuned to the APOLNET listserv for details.

To get help developing a school alcohol policy or working with those that do, download APN's booklet, Let's Take Action on Alcohol Problems in Schools and on Campus.

Energy Drinks

"Energy drinks are becoming increasingly popular with the younger generation" claims Leslie Beck, Registered Dietitian, in a recent Globe and Mail article (September 21, 2005, p. A23). The article cites the claims these trendy brews make: "improve muscle tone"; "increase endurance"; "invigorate the mind and body". However, there is no scientific evidence to support any of these claims. In fact, with the high caffeine and sugar content, many experts believe the drinks can be quite harmful.

Clearly advertised to the teenage market, with catchy names and attractive labelling, these beverages are shelved misleadingly alongside sports drinks and soda. However, their effects on young people are far more complicated than for the sports-type of drinks. The high sugar content can lead to weight gain and the caffeine content is able to cause sleep disturbances, irregular heartbeat, irritability, nervousness, and can undermine bone density. Further, with the high caffeine content, energy drinks have been flagged as a possible gateway to stronger substances, mainly alcohol.

Energy drinks are not just for the young however. Of great concern to the substance abuse prevention field are the health problems when energy drinks are combined with alcohol. Many college-aged students mix alcohol with energy drinks to produce a very potent, potentially harmful beverage. The stimulant effects of energy drinks can mask how intoxicated someone is. This can easily result in driving with or trusting in someone who is more intoxicated than they appear. Because both caffeine and alcohol are diuretics, dehydration can hinder the body's ability to metabolize alcohol, increasing a person’s blood alcohol level.

Concerns about the safety of energy drinks have led Denmark, Norway, and France to develop policies to ban them, while Sweden's food agency advises people not to consume Red Bull with alcohol or as a thirst-quencher.