Crime & Safety

'High-Risk College Drinking' a National Scourge

The issue affects Occidental College as well as the wider Eagle Rock community.

Sunday’s news that eight Occidental College students were hospitalized for heavy drinking received widespread publicity in the local media, not least because this was the second time in three weeks that such an incident occurred on campus.

Yet, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the so-called phenomenon of “high-risk college drinking” affects just about every college campus in the United States—along with college communities such as Eagle Rock.

Here are some of the findings presented by the NIAAA about the consequences of high-risk college drinking nationwide:

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  • Fatalities: An average of 1,825 college students aged 18-24 years die annually from alcohol-related injuries, including motor vehicle crashes.
  • Injuries: Some 599,000 students aged 18-24 years are injured on average annually under the influence of alcohol.
  • Assault: An average of 696,000 students aged 18-24 years are assaulted by a drunk student.
  • Sexual Abuse: About 97,000 students aged 18-24 years are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape on average annually.
  • Unsafe Sex: As many as 400,000 students aged 18-24 years have unprotected sex on average every year—and more than 100,000 of them report they were too drunk to be aware of whether or not the sex was consensual.

To read the entire list of 12 NIAAA findings about the consequences of high-risk college drinking, click here.

The aggressive social and commercial promotion of alcohol, coupled with the extensive availability of alcohol to underage as well as intoxicated students, are two key factors responsible for high-risk drinking among students, according to the NIAAA.

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Other factors include large amounts of unstructured student time; inconsistent publicity and enforcement of laws and campus policies; and a perception among students that heavy drinking is de rigueur on campuses.


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