Editorial: Trend of heavy drinking must be curbed

Published 12:00 am Thursday, October 13, 2005

With the arrest of nine young men in Moorhead for supplying alcohol to a man who drowned, the problem of heavy drinking by the college-aged crowd is back on the front pages.

It’s always difficult to compare the behavior of young people today with those their age years ago. Adults’ memories of their own youthful activities are often shaded by time.

Certainly, drinking on college campuses and by minors is nothing new. But all available information points to a disturbing trend of ever heavier drinking in recent years.

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Police in any Minnesota city will say that the young people they arrest for drinking-related incidents often show staggering levels of intoxication.

And college administrators, staff, and students will confirm that for many, drinking isn’t a social activity but a means to get drunk.

There are no quick fixes, but there are reasonable ways to counter the problem. In Moorhead, police and prosecutors were quick to find and charge those who allegedly furnished alcohol to

Patrick Kycia, who had a blood alcohol content of .17 and later drowned.

The fraternity where Kycia was drinking reportedly had a history of charging a fee for anyone who wanted to come in and drink.

That’s the kind of activity cities have been cracking down on by making it illegal to sell alcohol without a license or permit.

There are other steps, including police sweeps through college apartment areas to check and ticket underage drinkers, as well as holding bars more accountable for not serving obviously intoxicated patrons.

But police action has only a limited affect.

Parents, college administrators and young people must continue searching for the reasons for the trend of heavy drinking and use social pressure and education to help lessen it.

&045; The Free Press (Mankato)