Alcohol on Campus

Empty Miller Lite case Photo by Alicia Keene

Empty Miller Lite case
Photo by Alicia Keene

George Comiskey, associate director for the Texas Tech Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery, said that a college campus is a hard place for students who abuse substances.

“They come back to their dorms,” Comiskey said, “and somebody is sitting there reeking of marijuana or come back from partying and smells of alcohol, and they’re like, ‘Man, I’d love to go back out and party again.’”

Kendell Blackmon, a freshman animal science major from El Paso, Texas, said she feels like alcohol is a part of most college students’ lives.

Photo by Alicia Keene

Photo by Alicia Keene

“Everywhere you go,” Blackmon said, “there’s booze. I mean, you can go to a friend’s house and they’ll have bottles lined up on their cabinets. It’s just like a normal thing for college kids. We drink.”

According to the Public Broadcasting Service’s website, college students spend more money on alcohol than they do textbooks.

Jonathan Murray, a freshman undeclared major from Odessa, Texas, said he thought the suspected amount of alcohol students were drinking was blown out of proportion.

“I really don’t think we’re that bad about drinking,” Murray said. “We know our limits for the most part. People that aren’t in college think that all we do is party every night. That’s not the case. All of my friends are responsible drinkers.”

Comiskey said that, for the most part, people are responsible when they drink.

“Most people who drink, 80 to 90 percent, do it in a healthy way or a responsible way most of the time,” Comiskey said. “It’s that 10 to 20 percent that are problematic users and become addicts and alcoholics that we have to worry about.”

Blackmon said she felt like students are pressured into drinking, even if they disagree with it.

“If you don’t drink,” Blackmon said, “you really get heckled. When I tell guys I don’t want to drink, they keep pressuring me until I give in. It’s awful. You’re really seen as an outcast if you choose not to drink.”

Murray said he sees alcohol as a social norm.

Photo by Alicia Keene

Photo by Alicia Keene

“Drinking is a common thing at college,” Murray said, “If you want to have fun, you drink. I’m not saying you have to, but it makes things easier.”

Murray said he thinks the legal drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18.

“Here’s the thing,” Murray said. “I can vote and go die for my country. However, I can’t enjoy a drink whenever I want. Why? As far as I know, we are the only country where the legal drinking age is 21. If the kids in other countries can drink, why shouldn’t we be able to?”

Comiskey said the drinking age should stay at 21 so the brain can develop before taking abuse from alcohol.

“What we know about the brain and how long it takes the brain to develop,” Comiskey said, “that is a huge indicator that we want to give the brain as much time as we can before we introduce alcohol.”

According to Tech’s Code of Student Conduct, alcohol is not tolerated on campus. This includes empty bottles that previously contained alcohol.

Blackmon said she felt like this policy is a positive and should always be in place.

“I love that our campus is alcohol free,” Blackmon said. “Not having a bunch of drunken students on campus makes me feel safe. I really hope Tech doesn’t do away with it. That’s just how I feel.”

Murray said he feels that Tech’s policy is too strict.

“Personally,” Murray said, “Tech is way too hard on the whole alcohol issue. I understand not having alcohol in the dorms. What I don’t get, is why they don’t sell alcohol at the athletic events. They could be making so much money from alcohol sales!”

Murray said he thinks time would be better spent trying to educate people about how to drink responsibly instead of trying to prevent it altogether.

Photo by Alicia Keene

Photo by Alicia Keene

“Kids are going to drink,” Murray said. “We need to accept that. Trying to persuade them to not drink at all is useless. Instead of telling kids no, we should be trying to influence them to drink smarter. I think we would have less alcohol-related incidents if we took that route.”

However, one aspect of the policy is about to change because there is about to be one place on campus where alcohol is legal for those of age.

Above the Influence’s website reports each year approximately 5,000 people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking. This includes about 1,900 deaths from car accidents, 1,600 homicides, 300 suicides, and hundreds of other deaths due to accidents.

Blackmon said there is nothing that can be done to prevent these numbers.

“Sadly,” Blackmon said, “nothing will change the fact that people are stupid and do stupid things when they drink. It’s a sad reality we have to live with.”

Drinking Statistics from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism:

•    Approximately 59.6 percent of women and 71.8 percent of men over the age of 18 said they had at least one drink in the past year

•    Approximately 22.5 percent of women and 11.6 percent of men over the age of 18 said they have not had a drink in the last year.

•    More than 70 percent of people who develop alcohol dependence have a single episode that lasts an average of three or four years.

•    Heavy drinking takes a toll on the liver, and can lead to a variety of problems and liver inflammations including steatosis, hepatitis, fibrosis and cirrhosis.

•    Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion.

About Brennen McGinty