Governor, Colleges Unite to Curb Binge drinking

by Carol Schmidt

03/27/98 BOZEMAN -- Gov. Marc Racicot and presidents of Montana's universities and colleges today united in a program geared to curb student binge drinking.

The governor and top collegiate executives attending the Montana Board of Regents meeting in Havre signed a pledge of support for a grass-roots campaign in communities throughout the state that will emphasize the healthy drinking behavior patterns of a majority of Montana's students as opposed to focusing on negative behavior of a minority.

"Alcohol and other drugs are not a problem of one campus alone but of the entire community, and it will take the entire community to solve the problem," said MSU President Michael Malone of the community-based approach at reducing student drinking.

The first step in the new program will be community meetings in the cities and towns were colleges and universities are located. The University of Montana--Missoula and MSU-Bozeman have already held such meetings in their communities, with other towns soon to follow. Teams developed at the local meetings will develop action plans for addressing specific issues in their communities during a two-day training to be held in Great Falls in June. The training will be sponsored by the Montana Division of Addictive and Mental Disorders in the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

" The focus of these local efforts will go beyond merely educating individuals to actually reshaping the social context and environment where drinking occurs," said Jeff Linkenbach, professor in Montana State University-Bozeman's Department of Health and Human Development, as well as president of the Montana College Network for Substance Abuse Prevention. he said examples of the teams' meetings oculd be focusing on tailgating at sporting events or stricter enforcement of alcohol use by people under 21 years of age.

Another significant component of the program will be a social marketing campaign to reduce impaired driving crashes in Montana's 18-25 year old population. The campaign is funded by a $390,000 grant from Montana Traffic Safety awarded over the next three years.

"Through sound research and community partnerships, we expect to reduce alcohol-related crashes in the state in the next 3 to 5 years," Linkenbach said. The campaign builds on a successful program launched last summer at MSU. That program promotes positive peer interaction that already exists rather than scare tactics.

"The good news is that healthy behavior among the state's college students is the norm," Linkenbach said. "It's basically one of our best kept secrets."

Linkenbach has studied Montana student drinking behavior for three years and cites statistics that nearly 80 percent of Montana college students are moderate (less than eight drinks a week), light or non-drinkers.

"The majority of Montana college students are making healthy choices and we would like to build upon this health," he said.

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