cover image DYING TO DRINK: Confronting Binge Drinking on College Campuses

DYING TO DRINK: Confronting Binge Drinking on College Campuses

Henry Wechsler, Bernice Wuethrich, . . Rodale, $24.95 (320pp) ISBN 978-1-57954-583-3

Drawing on interviews with and questionnaires collected from 50,000 students at 140 four-year colleges as part of the recent Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Studies, Wechsler, director of the study, and science writer Wuethrich offer a sobering overview of underage drinking. Parents who comfort themselves by saying that their children drink, but at least they don't do drugs, may be shocked by the authors' findings, which have appeared in academic journals. Binge drinking—consuming five drinks at one sitting for men and four for women—is a bigger problem than the one Joe Camel once posed to smoking-prone teens. In 1995, the economic cost of alcohol abuse—which includes costs associated with such problems as crime, suicide and alcohol poisonings—was $167 billion, $57 billion higher than drug abuse. Just over 70% of all unmarried students between the ages of 18 and 23 binge drink. The authors discuss the effect of drinking on campus crime, including sexual assault, where more than half of the victims and 74% of the perpetrators had been drinking. Wechsler and Wuethrich attribute collegiate alcohol abuse to what they refer to as an "alcohol-related culture," such as 21st birthday celebrations, where people are expected to "drink their age," and sorority and fraternity culture, where 75% of the students are binge drinkers. After delivering such grave news, Wechsler and Wuethrich offer a final chapter on what communities can do—from enforcing laws to restricting happy hours—to eradicate binge drinking. Their book is a dramatic—and very real—call for parents, educators and lawmakers to take action. (Aug. 24)

Forecast:Conscientious parents, guidance counselors and college administrators will undoubtedly want this. Rodale's plans for nationwide radio interviews and print ads should generate some buzz.