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Substance-Free Housing Differences in Alcohol and Drug Use Among
CU-Boulder Undergraduates Spring 1998

While no residence halls at CU-Boulder are designated to be entirely "substance-free," students living in University housing who request that their own living area be "substance-free" are paired with a roommate who made the same request. Below, differences are presented between students living in a "substance-free" environment and those in regular University housing.

[Note: We are relying on students’ self-reports of their housing classification, which may or may not be accurate. There is a possibility that some students in regular University housing may have classified themselves as living in "substance-free" housing because that is how they have interpreted general University policy restricting use of alcohol by minors. If some students have indeed misclassified themselves in this way the likely effect would be that actual group differences might be larger than those reported in the tables below.]

Summary of Substance-Free Housing Differences

1. Interestingly, students in substance-free housing are not more likely to abstain from drinking, but they are much more likely to drink without binging, whereas students in regular housing are much more likely to be binge drinkers.
2. All indicators show decreased alcohol, cigarette, and drug use in "substance-free" housing.
3. Students in substance-free housing are much less likely to binge in High School or college than students in regular housing.
4. Students in substance-free housing are much less likely to suffer from any of the negative outcomes of alcohol use, and in general, report fewer problems due to other students’ drinking.

   		         
                                        Regular    Substance-	Substance-Free
                                        Housing      Free	Relative to Regular

 Total Number                                99       33

Alcohol and Drug Consumption by 
Students -  % Who:
 Abstain                                    12%      10%
 Drank, but did not binge                   28%      45%		+
 Binged 1-2 times in the past two weeks     20%      32%		+
 Binged 3 or more times in past 2 weeks     40%      13%		-

 Drank 10 or more times in past month       31%       9%		-
 Usually binge when drinking                63%      55%		-
 Drunk 3 or more times in the past month    49%      32%		-
 Drink to get drunk                         78%      61%		-
 Consider themselves problem drinkers        0%       0%
 Ever thought they had a drinking problem    4%       0%

 Drove after drinking in past month         15%      12%
 Drove after 5+ drinks in past month         2%       3%
 Rode with drunk/high driver past month     26%       9%		-

 Smoked cigarettes in past month            41%      18%		-
 Used marijuana in past month               33%      12%		-
 Used any drug past month (including
 MJ)                                        35%      24%		-

High School and College Binge Drinking 
Behavior - % Who:
 No binge in HS or college                  34%      42%		+
 Binge in college, not HS                   19%       9%		-
 Binged in HS, not college                   5%       9%
 Binged in HS and college                   40%      33%		-

   
                                       Regular    Substance- 	Substance-Free 
                                        Housing      Free	Relative to Regular

 Total Number                                99       33

% of Students Reporting Drinking has 
Caused Them to:
 Have a hangover                            73%      61%		-
 Miss a class                               57%      14%		-
 Get behind in schoolwork                   40%      19%		-
 Do something they regret                   52%      32%		-
 Argue with friends                         35%      25%		-
 Engage in unplanned sex                    42%      11%		-
 Engage in unprotected sex                  10%       0%		-
 Damage property                            19%      11%		-
 Into trouble with police                   11%       4%		-
 Get hurt or injured                        24%      11%		-
 Medical treatment for overdose              1%       0%
 Had 5 or more alcohol-related problems     41%       7%
   (excluding hangover but including
    drinking after driving)

% of Students who have Experienced Problems 
Due to Other Students’ Drinking:
 Been insulted/humiliated                   42%      32%		-
 Serious argument or quarrel                37%      32%
 Been pushed/hit/assaulted                  18%      10%		-
 Had property damaged                       18%      23%
 Had to ‘babysit’ drunk                     69%      61%		-
 Interrupted studying/sleep                 76%      74%
 Victim of unwanted advance                 35%      35%
 Victim of sexual assault/date rape          4%       0%

Alcohol Survey Index

Last revision 07/08/05