In this section, you will find information, questions, and answers about alcohol and drugs. This section includes facts about drugs and alcohol, usage on campus, how to talk to friends about drugs or alcohol, and discovering your own attitudes about drugs and alcohol

Effects: Intoxication, mild disinhibition, loss of coordination due to loss of muscle tone, possible nausea, difficulty concentrating,

Common Reactions: Nausea, headaches, drowsiness, dizziness, amnesia, vomiting, loss of muscle control, respiratory problems, loss of consciousness, being conscious but unable to move, and death -- especially when combined with alcohol or other drugs.

Effects of overdose: Sleep or deep sedation from which you cannot be awakened by any means for about three hours, and in many cases, death.

National Institute on Drug Abuse from the Epidemiologic Trends in Drug Abuse-Advance Report by the Community Epidemiology Work Group, June 1995

In many states including California even possession of a date rape drug can carry an automatic prison sentence of two years. In several highly publicized cases date rape drugs were used on men to get them out of the way making their dates accessible.

The bottom line is that these are very dangerous substances, and you should watch out for yourself and your friends when out at clubs or parties. A few ways to protect yourself and your friends are:

• Don't drink beverages that you did not open yourself.
• Don't exchange or share drinks.
• Don't take a drink from a punch bowl or other open container (who knows what's in there?)
• If someone offers you a drink at a bar or party, watch the drink being poured and carry the drink yourself.
• If you realize that you or a friend has left a drink unattended, discard it and get a new one.
• Don't drink anything with a strange taste or residue.

Remember to be safe when you party, and watch out for your friends. If you think you or a friend may have been given an unknown drug, get help immediately.

Don't most Bruins drink?

There are many misconceptions about college life and college students. Since you only see a small cross-section of what really happens on campus, it may be easy to over exaggerate what everyone seems to be doing. This can be especially true when it comes to alcohol, because before we even come to college we see movies and other media that portrays school as a constant kegger.

While there are students who do fulfill this stereotype, it is not the majority. Ashe Center surveys of student behavior find that most UCLA students are relatively moderate in their drinking behavior. In a recent UCLA survey, 80% of surveyed undergraduates reported consuming 0-4 drinks in a sitting, and 25% reported that they did not drink at all. Among graduate students, even fewer students reported having more that four drinks are a time.

Each person has their own limit for how much alcohol they can tolerate because alcohol affects us all differently. But the four drink standard is important, because five or more drinks at one sitting is the customary definition of binge drinking. This is the kind of drunkenness which is quite prevalent in college stereotypes and often contributes to a great deal of health problems as well as vandalism and property damage.

Alcohol is also linked to more serious crimes such as sexual assault, physical assault, and driving deaths. In the majority of rape cases, either the perpetrator, the survivor, or both are under the influence of alcohol or other drugs (making alcohol one of the most dangerous date rape drugs). Also, 66% of intimate partner violence and 31% of stranger violence involves alcohol. Alcohol related traffic fatalities account for 41% of all traffic fatalities (statistics from a 1998 Department of Justice report on alcohol and crime). Another scary prospect is that at least 4 out of 5 college students who engage in sexual activity while under the influence will abandon the safe sex practices they normally would use while sober.

If you do not drink, you are not alone on campus. There are many who either drink responsibly or do not drink at all. One reason for the perception that college students are heavy drinkers may be that drunken students are very visible due to noisy behavior. The percentage of students who drink is much lower than perceived and out of control binge drinking, while a real concern is much lower than one might think.

What do I do if I think my friend drinks too much? How do I talk to him about it?

Being concerned about a friend with a drinking problem is being a good friend. The important thing to remember in talking to your friend is to let him know that you care, and to tell him what you see from your perspective. Simply telling him he drinks too much is likely to result in him getting angry, whereas telling him that you are concerned by how much you see him drinking will hopefully not make him feel so defensive.