UW Binge Drinking Declines

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — Surveys by the National College Health Assessment show a decline in the percentage of University of Wyoming students who binge-drink.

The Associated Press reports the rate of binge-drinking over a two-week survey sample declined to 43 percent in 2011 from 46 percent in 2001.

Rodney Wambean, research scientist at the university's Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center, says on-campus prevention programs and off-campus police enforcement might be the reason.

He says that at some universities, a decline in alcohol use has been offset by an increase in the use of marijuana and other drugs, but that doesn't seem to be the case at Wyoming.

Wambean says most students are juniors by the time they reach legal drinking age and don't want to risk their academic success by drinking heavily.