Taking eight, nine or even 10 drinks a night? That's not just binge drinking, that's "extreme drinking."
In a recent study, researchers from Duke University examined the amount of alcohol consumed by college students. Their study, published in the June 2006 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, observed undergraduates from 14 American universities and found that many students are drinking above eight drinks per night.
The study showed that one of five college-aged men is drinking over 10 drinks and that one of 10 women is drinking above eight drinks a night - levels considered to be beyond binge drinking.
In college towns such as Davis, high levels of alcohol consumption among students could be a community concern.
Lt. Colleen Turay, spokesperson for the Davis Police Department, said excessive drinking causes an increase in crimes such as fighting, drinking under the influence and sexual assault.
"There have been a significant number of sexual assaults that occur where either the victim or the perpetrator have been drinking," Turay said.
Turay said excessive drinking has also caused an increase in the DPD's workload, especially on Thursday nights when many individuals visit bars.
She also noted that the police try to connect with students and student organizations in order to talk about responsible alcohol consumption.
"We work in a college town, so drinking has always been an issue," she said.
Stephanie Lake, coordinator for the Alcohol, Drug and Abuse Prevention Treatment program at UC Davis, said she has never heard of the term "extreme drinking," but if a person drinks more than one alcoholic beverage per hour it is considered "extreme."
"There has always been extreme drinking, especially with drinking games like beer pong, where people are drinking a lot of drinks in a short time span," said Lake.
Lake said she thinks there isn't a big issue with drinking on campus.
"People drink on campus," she said, "but it isn't a problem."
According to statistics from the 2005 California Safer University survey, 24.6 percent of UC Davis students binge drink at least once every two weeks, compared to 46.3 percent of other individuals.
Lake said 26.6 percent of students at UCD have reported personal problems, including suicidal tendencies, physical injury and attempting sexual assault due to drinking at least once in the previous quarter. Lake also said 12.6 percent of students reported some type of public misconduct related to excessive drinking.
Those who would like more information regarding alcohol-related issues can contact ADAPT at 752-6334.
