U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Higher Education Leaders Create Plan for Preventing Student Alcohol Abuse

NCJ Number
173039
Journal
Campus Law Enforcement Journal Volume: 28 Issue: 1 Dated: January/February 1998 Pages: 20-21-36
Editor(s)
L A Johnson
Date Published
1998
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes some actions school presidents can take to prevent and deal with student abuse of alcohol and other drugs.
Abstract
College presidents should offer new initiatives to help students become better integrated into the intellectual life of the school, change student norms away from alcohol and other drug use, and make it easier to identify students in trouble with substance use. The presidents should: (1) ensure the routine collection and distribution of data on the extent of campus alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems; (2) frame AOD prevention discussions in the context of excellence in education; (3) define AOD abuse as a community problem requiring community-level solutions; (4) speak out and write about prevention; (5) work with the community to avoid "mixed messages" that might encourage AOD abuse; (6) budget sufficient resources to address the problem; (7) appoint other senior school officials to work with community members to address AOD problems; (8) lead an exploration of their institutes' infrastructures to see how they affect AOD use; (9) take the lead in identifying ways to effect AOD prevention through economic development in the community; (10) as private citizens, participate in policy change at the State and local level; and (11) acknowledge that substance abuse is a problem that their schools have in common and participate in state, regional and national associations to build support for changes in public policy.