UC Davis Program Credited with Decrease in High-Risk Drinking

Students at the University of California at Davis are limiting the amount of high-risk drinking they participate in as a result of a major prevention initiative, a new survey concludes.

UC Davis' Safe Party Initiative focused on reducing alcohol-related problems at off-campus parties; students participating in a 2003 survey said roughly one-third of alcohol-related problems take place at such parties. The program included outreach efforts, a program website, and messages targeting incoming students, student-athletes, and members of fraternities and sororities.

A recent campus survey showed that binge drinking — defined as consuming five or more drinks at a sitting for men, and four or more drinks for women — has decreased from 31 percent to 20 percent over the four years the program has been in place. The survey also showed that underage drinking fell from 55 percent to 47 percent, and that the occurance of student drinking with the intention of getting drunk or intoxicated dropped 10 percent.

“As a community, we have worked together and made a real difference in this problem,” said Michelle Famula, director of Student Health Services at UC Davis.