Talk Is Cheap. Do It Often.
by Erica Upshaw

I sighed as I hung up the phone and sadly realized I had another student to add to the opening video of my drug and alcohol program. Clifton Alexander, a well-liked junior at Miami University of Ohio, had just died from an accidental methadone overdose. Another college student with a promising future dies from drugs or alcohol. Why does this keep happening?

A very valid answer to this question is also a timeless sound bite from parents everywhere: kids think they are invincible. Of course that sounds trite, but as a kid, how many times did you think to yourself, "that'll never happen to me"? I used to think it happened to people in the news, not to my friends and definitely not to ME. Now I know better. I learned firsthand that drugs and alcohol can easily kill a healthy and intelligent college student. I know this because I lost my own brother Joey when we were students together at The Ohio State University in 2000. After a night of heavy drinking, Joey took an accidental overdose of a popular party drug on campus. The next day it was his picture plastered all over the Columbus news stations and papers. This doesn't just happen to strangers. It can happen to people you love. It can happen to you.

Every year, over 1,700 college students in the United States die from alcohol related incidents. That's a higher yearly average than US troop deaths in Iraq! I believe the best weapon we have in this battle against drug and alcohol abuse is our voice. Since it's not typically in the nature of young people to worry about the consequences of their lifestyles, it's our obligation to remind them that their decisions about drugs and alcohol literally mean life or death.

Fall orientation is right around the corner. If students haven't already experimented with drugs or alcohol in high school, they will be faced with those choices at your school. Students who haven't learned how to make the right choices about drugs and alcohol will show up at your school unprepared. What can we do? We can talk about the issue honestly and without a preachy attitude. The last thing students want is to be talked down to or hear they can't do something. Instead, we need to communicate on their level to stimulate conversations amongst the students. Getting them to question risky behaviors with each other is the real catalyst for change.

I have found that students respond favorably to specific stories illustrating stats and facts. Examples of decisions gone awry followed by "how to prevent this from happening to you" strike a nerve because it's real. Check out a few abbreviated highlights from my talk for discussion ideas:

Have you heard of people doing 21 shots on their 21st birthday? Do you know at what BAC (blood alcohol content) death can occur at? If a 180 pound male does 21 shots in 4 hours, he can have a BAC higher than .40, and a 140 pound girl can have a BAC higher than .60. Death occurs at .30! This is how Michigan State University soccer player Brad McCue died on his 21st birthday.

If a friend collapses or passes out, don't put your friend to bed to "sleep it off." Call 9-1-1 right away. If your friend collapsed while walking to class, would you put your friend to bed to "sleep it off"? No way, that's ridiculous! You would call 9-1-1 right away. My brother Joey collapsed the night he took an overdose of GHB, and his friends didn't know what to do, so they put him to bed. By the time the paramedics picked him up two and half hours later, it was too late. He was dead. Don't be afraid to call 9-1-1. It's more important to keep your friend alive than worrying about getting in trouble.

If you're concerned about a friend's drinking or drug use, say something. You're not a parent or a teacher, you're a friend, and that puts you in an incredibly powerful position. Friends care deeply what their friends think! You have a unique ability to influence your friends and keep them from making dangerous decisions. I know this is true because someone confronted me about my drinking a few years ago and saved my life by allowing me to see how my actions were putting me in danger. I couldn't see it on my own. Talk to your friend before it's too late.

I am a new speaker at CAMPUSPEAK this year. This fall, I have been on the road speaking to incoming freshmen. Towards the beginning of my talk, I always ask the audience, "Who here has lost someone to drugs or alcohol?" I am constantly stunned at the response; often as many as one in four people raise their hands. Drug and alcohol abuse among college students has reached epidemic proportions, and the fact of the matter is, students choose their own fates. It's inevitably their decision if they live or die. By speaking with an honest dialogue and preparing students to make good decisions on their own, we have the chance to preemptively save lives. Talk isn't just cheap - it's free. Not talking is what comes at a hefty price. I have made it my mission to talk with as many students as possible. Please join me.