DRINKING CULTURE ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES how drinking trends are jeopardizing the safety of students Emily Gordon | Culture Repor ter | culture@stumedia.boisestate.edu Illustration by Dot Mar tin
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n Idaho alone, nearly 437 deaths occur each year due to harms relating to excessive alcohol use according to the Idaho Office of Drug Policy. It is no surprise that alcohol is one of the most commonly used and abused substances in America, specifically in college campuses all across the U.S. 14.9% of adults ages 18 to 25 met the criteria for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Within this age group, 13.8% were fulltime college students according to the 2021 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) Releases. People will drink, and that is not a shameful thing. Though it is important to look at the facts clearly and with no fear. With April being Alcohol Abuse Awareness Month, there is now an opportunity to normalize discussions surrounding substance abuse. Is this an issue on campus? “Binge drinking” is classified as a person ingesting five or more drinks (four for women) on the same occasion (i.e. on the same day) repeatedly, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIH). “Overdrinking is a nationally recognized issue,” said Nathan Fauntleroy, a Boise State Health Services counselor. “We (Boise State) are not
immune to that.” BroncoFit’s Parent Handbook for Talking with College Students About Alcohol explains that 7 out of 10 Boise State students drink regularly, and 3 out of 10 will become