Responsible Drinking Guidelines for College Students

Many colleges and universities have begun programs that emphasize responsible, rather than total, abstinence. Guidelines for reducing the risk associated with heavy drinking are:

• Pace your drinking - Allow time between drinks and sip the drink.
• Do not drink every day - Tolerance is developed and a person must increase the amount of alcohol consumed before effects are noticed. BAC is still rising even though effects are unnoticed.
• You decide when to drink - Do not allow others or situations to determine your drinking. Drink on your terms.
• Consider alternating nonalcoholic drinks with containing alcohol - Drink a soft drink without alcohol every other drink or drink plain orange juice every other drink.
• Don’t drink on an empty stomach - Food with fats and/or protein slow the absorption of the alcohol.
• Measure the alcohol - Pay attention to the size of containers. Do not provide kegs of beer or use larger sized wine, beer, or shot glasses. No contests or other drinking games.
• Don’t drink for more than one hour - Decide what nonalcoholic drink you are going to drink after the hour.
• Learn how to calculate your BAC - Know how many drinks are allowed within your hour period.
• If you are a female, drink less - Women become more intoxicated than men after drinking the same amount of alcohol even when differences in body weight are take into account. Women have proportionately less water in their bodies than men, thus they become more highly concentrated in BAC.
• Avoid taking over-the-counter or prescription medications - More than 100 medications interact with alcohol. If you are taking any over-the-counter or prescribed drugs, ask your doctor or pharmacist whether you can safely drink alcoholic beverages.

Fortunately, most college students moderate their drinking after their college years. However, about 12 percent are unable to control their drinking and continue to abuse alcohol. You should weigh carefully the potential harmful consequences of alcohol use and abuse before partaking in heavy drinking. Is it worth the price?