Alcohol FAQ: Am I better off than other people if I can hold my liquor?
From my college experience, I recall a culture of drinking where I thought that everyone was drinking a lot and drinking all the time; however now that I have worked as a professional on campus for many years and based on anonymous survey information that we collect from Gonzaga students, I know that some students don’t drink at all and most students who do choose to drink, drink at low levels. I also know that it is possible that any student can go overboard on one night and have a terrible experience. One comment that students sometimes make is that they can drink MORE because they can hold their liquor better than other people. Is this good or not?
I have talked with some students who boast about heavy drinking. They might share the fun times of excessive drinking like watching someone doing silly things, slurring their speech, losing their balance and other significant negative consequences like puking and blacking out. When students talk about these experiences like trophies or accomplished feats it is cause for alarm and an opportunity for me to express my concern.
“Holding your liquor” really means that a person has built up or developed tolerance and tolerance is not the same as Blood Alcohol Level (BAL), which is the measure of alcohol in the blood stream. Tolerance is not advantageous because it means that it takes more alcohol than it used to in order to get the same effect. As a result, higher tolerance means drinking more to get a “buzz” and drinking more means a higher BAL. A person who develops higher tolerance does not experience alcohol in the same way. There is an expectation that more is better and drinking more is more enjoyable. If students are proud about their level of drinking then we want to help them understand why lower tolerance is better.
A lower tolerance means that students will get warning signals from their body sooner such as nausea or noticing that their reaction time is slower. Because the warnings come sooner they can slow down or stop their drinking before they reach a higher and dangerous BAL level. Some students believe that a BAL of .08 is safe because it has legal ramifications for driving. Typically prior to a .08 level, reaction time is diminished, a buzz develops, cognitive judgment is impaired and the brain is not processing information correctly and this level of drinking is high. The effects from BAL’s vary from person to person and are different for women than for men; however for most people, under most conditions, drinking about one drink or fewer per hour is a low level of drinking and will allow a person’s body to process the alcohol more easily.
We want students to make healthier choices and we explain to students that the healthiest choice is to choose not to drink. We also explain that it is illegal if you are under 21 and describe the negative legal and university policy consequences of choosing to drink as well as negative personal consequences. If, in light of this information students choose to drink we want them to know that there are safer and less risky ways to do so. Students will make individual decisions about many things in their life and we want them to make thoughtful choices about alcohol. Since you play such an important role in guiding your student, I hope you will consider this information when you talk with your son or daughter. Below is an article for further information.
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/27/132288846/parenting-style-plays-key-role-in-teen-drinking
Karen Contardo, Director, Student Wellness Resource Center