The sunny beaches of Florida, Texas and Mexico or the ski slopes of Colorado and New England. They will be popular spring break destinations for more than 1 million young college students during the next several weeks. They can offer the experience of a lifetime, free of injury, or they can be the spring break from hell, with dire consequences.

Every year the binge drinking and debauchery of spring break contributes to some of the saddest stories of the year, with headlines about intoxicated college students falling to their death, fatal head-on crashes, and sexual assaults.

This doesn't have to happen, says Drew Hunter, executive director of the BACCHUS & GAMMA Peer Education Network, a nonprofit group in Denver that sponsors "Know Boundaries for a Safe Spring Break," a prevention campaign that will reach 1,000 college campuses. The campaign "encourages students to know that they have the power to make responsible decisions, know who they are partying with, know where their drink has been, know that they can call a taxi for a safe ride home, know their sexual boundaries, and know their limits for sun exposure."

The campaign reinforces that bad things -- life-changing, catastrophic events -- can happen when people, especially young people, drink and drive and drink to excess. It stresses that drinking to excess is not the norm. "Through the promotion of safe driving and sober driving, abstinence and responsible use of alcohol, we hope to reduce if not eliminate the number of deaths and injuries among college students during the spring break period," said Hunter. The incidence of deaths and injuries related to spring break is not known. But according to an April 2002 report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1,400 college students are killed each year in alcohol- related accidents, and alcohol contributes to 500,000 injuries and 70,000 cases of sexual assault each year. Spring break clearly contributes to these stats.

Jan Cairnes, a prevention specialist, says that sound bites, or quick facts, are some of the best ways to connect with college students. "Mixing alcohol with energy drinks can lead to alcohol overdose," is one sound bite students need to hear, she says. Mixing alcohol, a depressant, with sports drinks such as Red Bull, which contains stimulants such as taurine and caffeine, may give individuals the impression that they are less impaired than they actually are. Mixing the two substances sends a mixed message to the nervous system and thus may cause cardiac-related problems.

Cairnes adds another sound bite: Mixing alcohol with Tylenol, or acetaminophen, causes liver damage.

The "Knowing Boundaries" campaign highlights various sound bites and materials that promote safe spring break behavior. The campaign encourages peer educators at colleges to coordinate an awareness day (or days) to promote healthy behaviors a week or two before spring break. Posters, pledge cards, pamphlets and novelties are provided, all aimed at reminding students of the dangers. For instance, posters and pamphlets warn students about predatory drugs, such as GHB and Rohypnol, which are used to perpetrate date rape. Alcohol poisoning, club drugs, impaired driving, and sexually transmitted disease are other key topics.

The campaigns should be community-wide events that involve a range of campus organizations and student groups, the media, business community, law enforcement and more, says Hunter. BACCHUS & GAMMA suggests a range of ways to attract students to awareness days, including athletic events, alcohol-free parties and dances, progressive parties, and candlelight vigils.

The bottom line is young people's attitudes about drinking need to change. Young people need to recognize one key sound bite: "It's normal not to binge drink." The fact is, it's not only okay not to drink excessively, it is the norm, because nearly 60 percent of college students do not binge drink. Binge drinking is not a rite of passage.

For more information on the "Knowing Boundaries" campaign, go to http://www.bacchusgamma.org/ or call 303-871-0901.

--Published March 10, 2003