Advertisement “It is funny — the first thing we think of when we think of fun is black-out drunkenness rather than spending time with friends and learning about the people in the world around us,” said Cox.
Alcohol has become a norm in Cox’s generation, he said.
“How can people contribute to the future of our society when they are using alcohol as a tool to the point that they don’t know how to socialize without alcohol as a lubricant?” asked Cox.
Cox and other members of Students for Sensible Drug Policy talk about creating a “sensible attitude toward alcohol” and other drugs on campus. The local chapter of the international organization started at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in October.
Cox, a UW-L student and the group’s vice president, said they neither encourage nor condemn drug use, which they define as including alcohol. Rather, they promote responsible use.
When the chapter started, most people assumed group president Ian Finch was starting a marijuana legalization effort, he said. While some group members have argued changing the marijuana policy would make drug enforcement more sensible, it is not by any means the group’s main goal.
In fact, the 25-member local chapter focuses more on alcohol use because it is a larger issue in La Crosse, said Finch.
Finch, Cox and other group members are trying to have an effect on local policymaking and promote safe alcohol behavior. They have attended community events such as the Community Coalition meetings on “Changing the Culture of Risky Drinking Behavior.”
They also are working with Matt Vogel, UW-L community health specialist, to plan an event on responsible behavior before spring break in March, said Cox.
The group wants to create more open lines of communication from students to policymakers to law enforcement, said Finch.
“I feel policies have been made in the past that affect students directly but are made without a large amount of student input,” said Finch. “When students don’t have a voice in policies, there can be a sense of resentment or, at best, indifference.”
Another group goal is to provide nonbiased information on drugs. The definition of drugs, he added, is not limited to illicit drugs.
“There is a lot of
propaganda out there not to use certain drugs,” said Cox referring to illicit drugs. “But not much separates those ones from ones that are socially acceptable, like caffeine, alcohol and prescription medication.”
A lot of the information young people get about drugs comes from anti-drug campaigns such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or DARE, said Finch.
As these same children near the drinking age, alcohol advertisements encourage them to go out and have a good time, said Finch.
“It is no surprise that people aren’t using them sensibly and responsibly, because they are told not to use them and then bombarded with these messages,” said Finch.
Finch welcomed members of the public to attend meetings, which are held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays in room 263 of UW-L’s Cartwright Center.
For more information, go online to the Sensible Drug Policy Web site at ssdp.org/index.php.
KJ Lang can be reached at (608) 791-8226 or klang@lacrossetribune.com.
