There is no pattern in the relationship of institutional size and number of drinks per week. In the literature on alcohol use, binge drinking is operationally defined as the consumption of five or more drinks at one sitting. Table 3.5 reports the number of binge drinking episodes by students in the two weeks prior to survey administration. Note that 4.1 percent of the students reported more than five binges in the last two weeks. This means a minimum of 30 drinks per two weeks per student and in all likelihood more.
Many times averages hide important differences between groups.
This is true with respect to binge drinking and gender, and this has important ramifications for counseling and prevention programming. Table 3.5 illustrates this in more detail. Fewer females binge drink, and frequent binge drinking is more common among males than females. There is significant national concern over the use and consequences of drugs in our society. Sedatives, hallucinogens, and amphetamines were used by small percentages of students but the number is not negligible.