Use of policy, education, and enforcement to reduce binge drinking among university students: The NU Directions project

Authors

Ian Newman, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Duane F. Shell, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Linda J. Major, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Thomas A. Workman, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2006

Comments

Published in International Journal of Drug Policy 17 (2006), pp. 339-349; doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2006.01.005 Copyright © 2006 Elsevier B.V. http://www.sciencedirect.com Used by permission.

Abstract

This paper describes a program, conducted over a 5-year period, that effectively reduced heavy drinking and alcohol-related harms among university students. The program was organized around strategies to change the environment in which binge drinking occurred and involved input and cooperation from officials and students of the university, representatives from the city and the neighborhood near the university, law enforcement, as well as public health and medical officials. In 1997, 62.5% of the university’s approximately 16,000 undergraduate student population reported binge drinking. This rate had dropped to 47% in 2003. Similar reductions were found in both self-reported primary and secondary harms related to alcohol consumption.