Students need to understand the risks of heavy drinking

First at Five: A Moderate Response First at Five looks at efforts to discourage alcohol abuse and binge drinking in university culture.

There's a strong drinking culture on college and university campuses right across the Maritimes and the return to school is often a boozy week and that can be dangerous, but there's a push to change the drinking culture.

Keg parties and homecoming celebrations have been known to cause a lot of chaos and disruptions on campuses around the Maritimes.

"(Drinking starts) from early morning until late, late at night it's all just alcohol-drenched," said Lee-Anne Milne, the founder of Sober City.

Milne remembers the first week back to school and the culture of drinking that existed then, she said she spent most of her 20's binge drinking but has since been sober for nearly a decade.

Milne founded Sober City in 2020, a support group for people in sobriety which she says is growing. She believes the drinking culture on campuses is changing and credits the increased attention given to mental health awareness and the effects of alcohol on our well-being

"I have been seeing the culture slowly begin to change, at least over the past five years or so and I think that does have a lot to do with young people in their education around mental health and their education around the dangers of alcohol," said Milne.

There are risks with heavy drinking and students need to be presented with the facts, says this health scientist and researcher Dr. Samantha Wells, a senior director and senior scientist with the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at CAMH.

"Those who haven't drank a lot may put themselves at risk if they drank a large amount per occasion and suddenly they are falling down, vomiting, passing out or they are getting injured and into fights and there's also the risk of sexual violence," said Wells.

There are also long-term risks according to new guidelines from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.

If you consume more than seven drinks of alcohol a week, you are considered at high risk for developing cancer and heart disease.

That's why Wells stresses it's important to talk to students about the risks of alcohol consumption.

"I think the pandemic opened up a lot of those conversations," said Wells. "I think we started to talk about alcohol in a new way and I think we started to talk about mental health in a new way and I think people are much more open to sort of saying 'maybe I need to be watching my drinking a little bit more.'"

Sober City encourages people to rethink their drinking habits and to support friends who wish to stay sober. If you're hosting friends have some non-alcoholic options for them in the fridge.