IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THEM JOIN THEM Addiction Volume 103 Issue 6 Page 951-952, June 2008
College student alcohol use is associated with an estimated 1700 deaths and 500 000 unintended injuries each year [1]. Life at campuses and adjoining communities is affected negatively by the second-hand effects of heavy drinking—violence, vandalism, noise and vomit [2,3]. College attempts to intervene have focused thus far primarily on educational efforts and have yielded little success [4]. Environmental interventions, for instance cracking down on centers of heavy drinking such as fraternities and athletic programs, risk antagonizing students and alumni. Cutting down on the supply and access to alcohol requires cooperation from the local community[5].
One university decided to try to cash in on the problem [6]. A team of evaluators was funded by theNational Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to examine student drinking rates over eight semesters before and after the introduction of alcohol sales to determine whether rates of binge drinking and drunkenness changed during that time-period. They also compared the rates at the school where alcohol was sold with those at another college.
Before the results of this study are used to justify policy changes, we need to ask a few questions, as follows.
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