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.
