Facts on Alcohol Abuse:

It seems like alcohol abuse on campus is everywhere. Many college students who drink alcohol don't think about the long-term consequences - they're just living for the moment. They need to start thinking about the simple consequences of their actions. More than 2 of every 5 students reported at least one symptom of abuse or dependence.

Many college students drink an average of 150 times every year and end up spending $2,700 annually on alcohol. By the time they graduate, many will have spent more than $10,000 on alcohol.

• 44% of U.S. college students engaged in binge drinking

• 51% of the MEN drank 5 or more drinks in a row

• 40% of the WOMEN drank 4 or more drinks in a row

  Students more likely to binge drink are white, age 23 or younger, and are residents of a fraternity or sorority. If they were binge drinkers in high school, they were three times more likely to binge in college.

  The percentage of students who were binge drinkers was nearly uniform from freshman to senior year, even though students under 21 are prohibited from purchasing alcohol. http://www.cspinet.org/booze/collfact1.htm

  Over half the binge drinkers, almost 1 in 4 students, were frequent binge drinkers, that is, they binged three or more times in a two-week period. While one in five students reported abstaining from drinking alcohol.

  The consequences of excessive and underage drinking affect virtually all college campuses, college communities, and college students, whether they choose to drink or not.

  • Death: 1,400 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes

  • Injury: 500,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol

  • Assault: More than 600,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking

  • Sexual Abuse: More than 70,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape

  • Unsafe Sex: 400,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 had unprotected sex and more than 100,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report having been too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex

  • Academic Problems: About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall

  • Health Problems/Suicide Attempts: More than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem and between 1.2 and 1.5 percent of students indicate that they tried to commit suicide within the past year due to drinking or drug use Drunk Driving: 2.1 million students between the ages of 18 and 24 drove under the influence of alcohol last year

  • Vandalism: About 11 percent of college student drinkers report that they have damaged property while under the influence of alcohol

  • Property Damage: More than 25 percent of administrators from schools with relatively low drinking levels and over 50 percent from schools with high drinking levels say their campuses have a "moderate" or "major" problem with alcohol-related property damage

  • Police Involvement: About 5 percent of 4-year college students are involved with the police or campus security as a result of their drinking) and an estimated 110,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are arrested for an alcohol-related violation such as public drunkenness or driving under the influence

  • Alcohol Abuse and Dependence: 31 percent of college students met criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse and 6 percent for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence in the past 12 months, according to questionnaire-based self-reports about their drinking

    (http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/fatcs.snapshot.aspx)

Created By: Kornelia Litvintsova