By Sandy Gleim

   When the LaPorte County Drug Free Partnership concluded its recent epidemiological study, we unfortunately weren’t surprised to learn that binge drinking is a real concern in LaPorte County.

Sandy Gleim

   The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines bingeing as drinking five drinks in two hours for a 160-pound man, and four or less for a woman. That level generally leads to blood alcohol concentration of at least .08 percent – Indiana’s legal definition for intoxication.

   Students and adults polled in local surveys and focus groups generally couldn’t come close to pinpointing this definition — overestimating the amount of time and alcohol to define a binge. Almost half of the youth characterized it as drinking until the person vomits, or is unconscious. Even some adults linked a binge to drinking a fifth of liquor!

   While the number of respondents wasn’t necessarily statistically relevant, what does this data tell us?

   1. Education is necessary to recognize and deal with this serious issue.

   2. Many aren’t aware they are “binge drinking.”

   3. Individuals who don’t know this info may be more apt to drive while intoxicated.

   For teens, binge drinking can cause serious health and mental health issues, significantly impacting their home, school and community. A recent study published in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors shows adolescent drinking can cause irreversible brain damage. And a new MRI-based study shows adolescents damage the white matter in their brain — which helps relay information between brain cells — when they binge.

   Several national surveys indicate about half of college student drinkers engage in “heavy episodic consumption.” This led the U.S. Surgeon General and the Department of Health and Human Services to identify binge drinking among college students as a major public health problem.

    To combat this problem in LaPorte County, the Drug Free Partnership is strategizing to create “social norm change,” believing that education reduces the notion of acceptability. Over the holidays, we ran locally created radio and newspaper ads stating boldly: “BOOZE it and LOSE it. Your license, that is.” The ads also cautioned about binge drinking.

   We plan to apply for a federal grant to further such interventions. With the health of our community at stake, there’s no time to lose in effecting social change.

SANDY GLEIM is associate coordinator of the LaPorte County Drug Free Partnership.

   The LaPorte Historic Preservation Commission announced on March 10, 2010, that LaPorte has been designated as a Preserve America Community. The designation was made official with a letter addressed to the citizens of LaPorte, signed by First Lady Michelle Obama.

   The press release from Washington, D.C., states that the Preserve America program “seeks to actively involve Americans in preserving America’s heritage and increasing the positive economic, educational, environmental and cultural benefits of preservation to their communities.”

   The press release notes that designated communities tend to experience a boost in tourism, and designation “demonstrates to potential partners that these communities have a leadership commitment to their heritage, as well as the necessary infrastructure, to turn historic resources into economic assets through adaptive reuse for contemporary purposes.”

   A good example in LaPorte is the recently restored depot, which now serves as office space for the Greater LaPorte Chamber of Commerce and other entities.

   The possibility of receiving grants for historic preservation might also be boosted.

   LaPorte is among 19 communities designated in this latest round, and is among only 814 communities nationwide that have received designation since the program’s inception in 2003.

   The application for designation was made at the behest of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. The commission’s president, Jason Curtis, said: “There are a number of people to thank for helping ensure LaPorte was able to submit the strongest application possible. In particular, we are grateful to the city’s Office of Community Planning and Development, the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, and perhaps most importantly, the individual who compiled our application, Mr. Robin Wenger.

   “We are excited about achieving this special recognition for the city, and believe it reflects not only the outstanding historical resources we have in LaPorte, but also the remarkable ’sense of place’ that those resources provide.”