<p>It wouldn’t surprise me if the number of incidents is actually decreasing rather than increasing. We may just hear about them more due to this thing we call the “internet”. It is unlikely such an incident as far away from me at that time would have made it into any news source I would have viewed in the 1980’s…</p>
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<p>Death from aspiration of stomach contents. Also happens a lot with Heroin overdoses.</p>
<p>I have heard that the kids drink more hard liquor now, easier to conceal. We drank beer, lots of it, and never had a problem.</p>
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<p>Should have written “asphyxiation from aspiration of stomach contents.”</p>
<p>'m on the fence as to whether this is actually going up or that social media and 24/7 news enable these stories to go viral. I remember when I was in school, a guy drank too much at a frat party, went onto a busy road near campus and did push-ups at 2 am, and you can imagine what happened - a car hit him and he died. (@Sally305, do you remember this?) However, these days that would be a “teaching moment.” There would be vigils, there would be round table discussions about the dangers of drinking, RA’s would be reminded to hold their charges accountable, a letter would go home to parents, the campus would mourn, etc. In our day, these things happened occasionally and while it was certainly an unfortunate occurrence, I don’t think it got the publicity it would today.</p>
<p>Similarly with suicide. I remember one suicide during the time that I was in school. Again, it was treated as unfortunate for those who knew the young lady, but it wasn’t a “campus event” like it would be today. I can’t think of a better term for campus event, and I don’t mean to say that cavalierly. </p>
<p>I don’t remember this either, and it also seems to me that the drink of choice back in the late 70’s was beer. I think there probably is more publicity, but I also think there is more drinking of multiple shots of hard liquor in a short period of time.</p>
<p>I have read somewhere about mixing energy drinks & alcohol leading to alcohol poisoning.</p>
<p>It seems like such an easy stat to come up with-have deaths from alcohol poisoning specifically risen, decreased, or stayed the same since, say…1970. But didn’t find it and spend enough time on this web site without adding to it.</p>
<p>I was never a drinker, but suspect I would fall asleep before I could ever die of alcohol poisoning, since one glass of wine makes me want a nap. A friend’s D is a bartender, and says that energy drinks are a big problem now at clubs and mask the depressive affect of the liquor. It makes it harder for the bartender and the drinkers’ friends to tell who has had too much. (Not to mention that these heavily caffeinated drinks pose medical risks, eg. heart attack, on their own). </p>
<p>That said, Rutgers frats have a reputation–deserved or not–for slipping girls drugs, so that could have been a factor too. I only mention that because a friend’s son was a high school classmate of Caitlyn’s and at least back then she was level-headed and not a drinker. Kids do change, though… </p>
<p>Here’s a report for those with more interest:
<a href=“Publications | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism | Measuring the Burden Alcohols Evolving Impact on Individuals, Families, and Society”>http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arcr352/201-218.htm</a></p>
<p>Just looking at the long-term trend exhibits might make one think the numbers are clearly in decline, but then there’s the additional analysis of binge drinking. </p>
<p>“Measuring the true scope of medical treatment for alcohol overdoses among college students is difficult for several reasons. First, in datasets such as the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) and the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), no college identifiers are included to indicate whether a young person treated for an alcohol overdose is enrolled in college. Many schools do not track or report the number of students treated for an alcohol overdose, and many students drink excessively when away from campus. Further, schools that implement Good Samaritan or Amnesty policies, which allow students to get help for overly intoxicated peers without fear of sanctions, could create the false impression that overdoses are on the rise. For instance, after Cornell University implemented an amnesty policy, they witnessed an increase in calls to residence assistants and 911 for help dealing with an intoxicated friend”</p>
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<p>A few years ago, a kid who had graduated from my kids’ school did a stint in the hospital for alcohol poisoning at the end of her second week in college. I knew her slightly – as did lots of people – because she worked at a much-patronized local shop, and was always warm, friendly, chatty. My son worked there, too, and he really admired her, and I also admired her, because she was wonderful to him at school, completely generous with her prestige as a visible, popular senior to let it be known that he was a good guy who was her friend. She was smart, too – good grades, good college, and an older brother at one of those single-initial colleges – as well as athletic. Just a great all-arounder.</p>
<p>As word of her mishap spread in our community, people clucked about inexperienced kids not knowing their limits when they got to college, and maybe she had studied/worked/trained too intensely in high school and tried to blow off all the steam at once, etc. My daughter was in the class behind her, though, and said simply, “It’s not that surprising that she had to be hospitalized for alcohol poisoning. What’s surprising is that it didn’t happen once or twice a month over the past year.”</p>
<p>In other words, sometimes it’s not exactly that kids change, so much as that the stuff they hide and the risks they take catch up with them.</p>
<p>I was Greek in college and never heard of a single alcohol poisoning incident that involved either death or being taken to the hospital. Of course, our communication technology was not as advanced, so it is possible I just didn’t know. There was no hard liquor served at parties back then that I can remember, other than Everclear in the punch, and no one drank the punch because we all knew it was there. Beer from kegs was the only drink offered. Girls didn’t like it much, and it was difficult to drink a lot of, because it was so filling.</p>
<p>On move in day at my D’s college, her new roommate had brought along a large bottle of vodka and offered it as a communal source. Hard liquor was free-flowing at parties, and students did not hesitate to call for help for their friends who seemed to have over-imbibed, because there was no stigma attached to it. My D made a call once for someone she was concerned about. </p>
<p>I could have died from alcohol poisoning, but managed to go to sleep and wake up the next morning, as a sophomore. I was feeling sorry for myself, and it’s kinda ironic, I went to a Deke party and ended up completely oblivious. 7 grain punch in an hour, and using 12 oz. cups.</p>
<p>I just did not realize the delay between drinking and feeling drunk, or I would have stopped at 1. By the time I got to four or five, it was getting too late to stop, and any food I had earlier was out of my system. Can’t we educate kids on that? </p>
<p>My problem is also that I don’t get hangovers. My parents never had the alcohol talk, the drugs talk, and not even the sex talk with me. My mom tried to have the sex talk with me when I was 19 and already living with a guy. I tried very hard not to laugh in her face but failed. I don’t even recall if I ever told my mom about passing out from drinking.</p>
<p>I agree 100% that if they had a beer only policy on campus, written or unwritten, and bust the use of grain or other hard liquor, campuses would be safer. Also think that they should mandate all athletes and all Greek members to attend alcohol, drugs, and sex education meetings. I don’t think zero tolerance of alcohol on campus or at off-campus university-affiliated groups will work, but somehow they need to save lives more than they are.</p>
<p>When I was in college, we mainly drank beer as well. Sometimes I would have a marguerita at a restaurant, but that would come with the big plate of Mexican food. Because we were legal at 18, we didn’t have to have underground parties (which rarely come with food, I understand) to “pre-game.” We drank at restaurants and bars, where there was almost always food available.</p>
<p>I was asked to bring some vodka to a July 4 party. I couldn’t believe the rows and rows of flavored vodkas: cherry, peach, mixed berry, lemon, orange, vanilla, etc. It seems this is marketed specifically for the tastes of young folks.</p>
<p>There is even Whipped Cream and Fruit Loops Vodka. 
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<p>For the record back when I went to college in the early 80s the drink of choice was overwhelmingly beer.</p>
<p>“Alcohol of choice now is 1.75L plastic bottles of vodka. It’s cheaper and more portable than beer.”</p>
<p>For $10-15 bucks this gives you 59 ounces of strong booze. So the same wallop as multiple cases of beer, but much easier to ingest quickly to excess. </p>
<p>I was alarmed to hear from my teenagers that drinking games designed for beer (think quarters, beer
pong) are now being played with hard liquor. Tell your kids to walk away from any game that is liquor- based. Just a crazy recipe for disaster.</p>
<p>No report yet if alcohol was involved but a Clemson student died yesterday while participating in a fraternity run. He fell from a bridge.</p>