Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Stony Brook program on binge drinking raises interest

A new Stony Brook University initiative to prevent the consequences of binge drinking has sparked nationwide interest from more than 100 colleges, universities and high schools that want to replicate the program on their campuses.

“So many people who have been affected by the loss of a loved one or an acquaintance or a friend from toxic drinking have contacted us,” said Jenny Hwang, associate dean at Stony Brook and director for prevention and outreach.

Among them is Chris Homer, a health educator at Cold Spring Harbor High School, who Thursday attended a five-hour information session about the program, called Red Watch Band.

Homer, like the program, drew his inspiration from the death of his former student, Matthew Sunshine, from alcohol poisoning. Sunshine, the son of a Stony Brook professor, was a freshman at Northwestern University last year who died after his classmates took him to his room to sleep off a night of drinking.

“I had him as a student and I knew him well,” Homer said. “As a health teacher who has had something like this happen to a student . . . it just breaks your heart.

“I’m always trying to reach the kids and if I can get any new tools here or new ideas here, that’s what I’m after,” he said. About 20 people from 10 school districts participated in Thursday’s session.

Hwang said Stony Brook is still trying to figure out the best way to export the program to other campuses.

About 84 Stony Brook students have been trained in the program, which includes teaching them CPR, information about alcohol poisoning and participating in role-playing exercises designed to encourage them to call for help.

The idea, Stony Brook officials say, is to give students tools to overcome the social pressures that might otherwise prevent them from seeking help for someone exhibiting behavior associated with binge drinking.

Experts say the combination of medical and behavioral training, plus the focus on preventing harm, rather than preaching abstinence, makes the program unique on college campuses.

“Not many people,” Hwang said, “can argue with the importance of preventing death.”

source: Newsday

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Recovering addict opens outpatient treatment center

It was 2006, and drugs and alcohol ruled Clark Converse’s world. Down to eating out of trash bins, Converse, 36, asked God for deliverance. “While I was in treatment, I prayed that I find love again and to one day open my own treatment center to help other addicts like me,” he said. Two years….

Program sets record straight on underage drinking

There’s good news and there’s bad news when it comes to underage drinking in Pee Dee. The good news is that incidents of underage drinking seem to be on the decline. The bad news is that those who do drink are drinking more than ever, according to Circle Park Prevention Services data. “We’ve have some….

Teen drinking Youth alcohol abuse still a major concern

David is a fairly typical teenager in a fairly typical local high school. He can’t wait to get his driver’s license, he eats like a horse and he’s an accomplished athlete. But, unbeknownst to his parents and siblings, David and his friends were having drinking parties — not all the time but, in his words,….

Is youth drinking worse than we think?

The public perceives youth drinking in North Dakota as less of a problem than people who work closely with alcohol prevention, a new survey shows. Among adults surveyed in North Dakota, 41.3 percent perceived alcohol use by youths as a serious problem, according to the North Dakota Department of Human Services and Minot State University…..

Naltrexone: can a pill cure alcoholism?

Naltrexone is cheap, effective and requires no costly rehab. So why do so few doctors endorse it? Mrs M, as she asks me to call her, isn’t sure exactly when she last drank herself into a comatose state, but she knows it was about five years ago. At that time she got through a bottle….