Listmates:
I've long been bemused and puzzled by these "concentration of consumption"
statistics.
They've been around for a long time, but what rhetorical end do they
actually serve?
The notion of high concentration seems to have emerged as the "new public
health approach"
to alcohol gained ground -- i.e., in the 1970s and 1980s. This new
direction for alcohol thought and
policy focused more attention on environmental controls, reducing aggregate
consumption, and (perhaps most importantly) transforming alcohol per se
from an essentially benign benign substance (the alcoholism paradigm's
view) to "a drug," just like illicit drugs or tobacco.
But, and of course, the more the concentration of consumption bunched in a
smaller and smaller fraction of the population, the more (and ironically)
one could argue that perhaps the waning alcoholism paradigm afforded a
better picture of what was going on. After all, a few very heavy consumers
were sopping up an awful lot of the alcohol.
One of the interesting -- and non-intuitive -- corollaries of the
concentration-of-consumption assertion MAY BE that we live in a quite DRY
or MODERATION-PRONE society. After all, if 75% to 90% to 95% (whatever
figure is used) are consuming less than half or even a smaller fraction of
total alcohol consumed, then moderation (or abstinence) characterizes a lot
of the population.
One of the first things one should ask upon hearing such statistics is:
"Well, how much consumption (quantity-frequency, total volume, or whatever
measure is in use) did it take to qualify for the heavy drinking group at
the high end of the dichotomy?" That drinking level may be rather lower
than one expected. And in that case, too, the concentration of consumption
statistic ends up (ironically) suggesting how temperate population drinking
practices may be.
A final question: Does it bother anybody else on this list that posters
would find it UNembarrassing FIRST to focus on a statistic that they
desire, and THEN to seek and ask for the source or authority for that
statistic? To my jaded ear, at least, that sounds like someone interested
in "advertising" more than "teaching" -- something more akin to than
different from the unfortunate use of the term "binge" in so many
college-preventionist pronouncements.
Roizen
----------
From: Dawn Haney <haneydaw@ARCHES.UGA.EDU>
To: DRUGHIED@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU
Subject: Re: Help. Need a stat
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 1999 3:06 PM
If you need a national statistic, the Harvard College Alcohol Study
reports that 2/3=1/5 (19% of the students drink 68% of the alcohol) in:
Wechsler, H., Molnar, B.E., Davenport, A.E., & Baer, J.S. (1999). College
alcohol use: A full or empty glass? <underline>Journal of American
College Health, 47,</underline> 247-252.
dawn
At 01:22 PM 1/26/00 -0600, you wrote:
>Perkins' 3/4=1/3 is specific to Hobart William Smith - see his
excellent
>web page @ www.hws.edu/aca/depts/alcohol/
>
>While the exact percentages vary slightly, our stats are about the
same
>(e.g. instead of say 78%, 74% - both are considered 3/4). The numbers
can
>be calculated from the CORE question re: average number of
drinks/week.
>
>Kevin
>
>At 12:56 PM 1/25/00 -0600, you wrote:
>>Where does the stat come from? Is it national or specific to a
particular
>>school.
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Kevin Stewart [mailto:wkstewart@SEMOVM.SEMO.EDU]
>>Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2000 9:10 AM
>>To: DRUGHIED@listserv.tamu.edu
>>Subject: Re: Help. Need a stat
>>
>>
>>2/3 = 1/4 is what Wes Perkins uses; we use 3/4 = 1/3 (they are both
>>interestingly accurate). Three fourths of students drink only
one-third
>>of the total number of alcoholic drinks consumed by students in an
average
>>week at _____. Clearly, turning it around, only one-fourth of the
students
>>consume two -thirds of all the alcohol.
>>
>>At 08:37 AM 1/25/00 -0500, you wrote:
>>>I know I have this information filed away somewhere, but I can't put
my
>>>finger on it. We know that there is a small proportion of students
that
>>>are consuming most of the alcohol...Does anyone know the numbers or
>>>percentages of the ratio I am talking about?
>>>
>>>Thanks!
>>>
>>>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>>>Gina Firth, MA, LPC, NCC
>>>
>>>Director
>>>Office of Alcohol and Drug Education
>>>University of Notre Dame
>>>Notre Dame, IN 46556
>>>phone: (219) 631-7970
>>>fax: (219) 631-4299
>>>
>>Gotta make it somehow on the the dreams you still believe.
>>Don't give it up, you got an empty cup only love can fill,
>>
>>
>>Kevin Stewart
>>Coordinator,Substance Abuse Prevention & Education
>>Southeast Missouri State University
>>1 University Plaza, MS 1500
>>Cape Girardeau, MO 63701
>>573.651.2264
>>Fax: 573.651.2893
>>
>Gotta make it somehow on the the dreams you still believe.
>Don't give it up, you got an empty cup only love can fill,
>
>
>Kevin Stewart
>Coordinator,Substance Abuse Prevention & Education
>Southeast Missouri State University
>1 University Plaza, MS 1500
>Cape Girardeau, MO 63701
>573.651.2264
>Fax: 573.651.2893
>
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