More for Alcohol Than Books
College is clearly a catalyst for alcohol use. In fact, young adults ages 18 to 22 who don't go to college drink less than those who do. Age 21—the age most collegians graduate from college—is the peak age for binge drinking across the typical American life span. Past-month drinking actually increases into the middle years, but is more moderate in in-take.
To give some sense of the magnitude of college drinking, 12 million undergraduates drink 4 billion cans of beer or 55 six packs each a year. About 25 percent of college students find drinking hurts their grades and school work. Drinking is twice as heavy at frat houses than outside them. Fraternity members average 14 drinks a week versus 6 drinks by non-fraternity members.
What Happens to the Brain and Body?
Studies show that more than 35 percent of adults with an alcohol problem developed symptoms—such as binge drinking—by age 19. Long-term use risks liver damage, pancreatitis, certain cancers, and literal shrinkage of the brain. Alcohol use is the second-leading cause of dementia; one simply ages quicker on alcohol. In 1998, there were 15,935 alcohol-related deaths in vehicular crashes. Though most college drinkers would deny it, young people do die solely from drinking. In 1995, 318 people ages 15 to 24 died from alcohol poisoning alone, many of them after a night binge at college. At the University of Virginia, a tradition that has seniors drinking a fifth of hard liquor at the final game of the football season (the so-called "Fourth-year Fifth") has killed 18 students since 1990.
Alcohol Affects Women More
Many women appear to have reduced levels of the gastric enzyme that metabolizes alcohol—in short, it leaves their system more slowly. At the same time, less alcohol does more short-term, as well as long-term, damage to women's health than men's. Annually more than 70,000 college students are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape. Two-thirds of binge drinkers report reckless behavior such as unprotected sex, unplanned sex, or driving while drunk.
Selling Alcohol to Youth
Alcohol is a $115 billion industry in the United States; bingers account for 76 percent of beer sales nationwide. Studies show that underage—that is, illegal—drinkers account for 10 percent of the alcohol market, or $10 billion annually. Among recent ploys to lure youth into drinking are so-called "alcopops" beverages—sweet, fruity lemonades and other drinks laced with liquor—and "zippers," fruity gelatin shots containing 12 percent alcohol.
