The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) held two Substance Abuse Awareness Days on Nov. 4 and 5 in order to promote responsible alcohol consumption and discuss the effects of substance abuse.
“This is by no means a campaign to say ‘stop drinking,’ it’s just so students will use alcohol or maybe consume beverages more appropriately so that they are safe about it,” said Maddy Porter, CUSA’s vice-president (student issues).
Ottawa Public Health (OPH) took part in the campaign’s events on Nov. 4 at Oliver’s Pub.
OPH nurse Jessica Groocock managed an “Intoxiclock” display, a device for users to calculate how long alcohol would remain in their body. The results depended on the user’s age, weight, and number of drinks.
The device also graphs the highs and lows of the alcohol’s effects on the body.
“With the Intoxiclock they see the numbers going up and up and they see the graph showing their blood alcohol concentration and it kind of really shocks them,” she said.
The hands-on displays gave students the chance to learn in an interactive way, she said.
“If you just give information, it can go in one ear and out the other and they may not be absorbing it,” Groocock explained.
Maher Barghouthi, a fourth-year biology student, was surprised by the results he got using the Intoxiclock.
Barghouthi tried the interactive monitor twice, once for an average night and once for a special occasion. He said the device showed that it would take him almost two days for him to fully recover to a zero alcohol level.
“I thought that by the next day I would be sober,” he said. “Now I have a realistic estimate of how long it will actually take.”
The other side of the table had cups of various shapes and sizes. Students were asked to pour liquid into the cup for the amount they usually drink. Then the amount of fluid ounces was compared to the amount of one standard drink.
For the most part, the majority of students who thought they were only pouring one drink, were in fact pouring up to three times the amount.
On Nov 5., Drink Smart gave tips on responsible drinking. They had interactive workshops as well, having student wear fatal vision goggles or ‘beer goggles’ while completing an obstacle course.
“Hopefully it comes off in a light way with a serious undertone,” Porter said.
Also on Nov. 5, iPromise and Safe Roads Ottawa encouraged students to understand the consequences of drinking and driving and put into perspective the amount of road deaths that are caused by intoxicated drivers.
“Were working with our administration to make sure campus is as safe as possible, that our pubs are as safe as possible,” Porter said.
During the awareness campaign, ‘How much is too much?’ signs were posted at Oliver’s Pub.
“Maybe in the future we can have them in Ollie’s at all times, so people can look at them while they are actually drinking,” said Porter.
While this week is geared towards alcohol awareness, Porter mentioned that in the future Leave the Pack Behind, an organization geared to help students stop smoking, will also be on campus sometime this year.
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