| Integrating data from the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, national coroner
studies, census and college enrollment data for
18 24-year-olds, the National Household Survey
on Drug Abuse, and the Harvard College Alcohol
Survey, we calculated the alcohol-related unintentional
injury deaths and other health problems among
college students ages 18 24 in 1998 and 2001.
Among college students ages 18 24 from 1998 to
2001, alcohol-related unintentional injury deaths
increased from nearly 1600 to more than 1700,
an increase of 6% per college population. The
proportion of 18 24-year-old college students
who reported driving under the influence of alcohol
increased from 26.5% to 31.4%, an increase from
2.3 million students to 2.8 million. During both
years more than 500,000 students were unintentionally
injured because of drinking and more than 600,000
were hit/assaulted by another drinking student.
Greater enforcement of the legal drinking age
of 21 and zero tolerance laws, increases in alcohol
taxes, and wider implementation of screening and
counseling programs and comprehensive community
interventions can reduce college drinking and
associated harm to students and others.
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