CNN Article, March 25, 2005
http://www.cnn.com Colby College has taken a unique position on alcohol education. They are offering wine and beer tasting for students over the age of twenty-one. Each Friday at the school, students of the legal age can congregate at the school's cafeteria to taste wine and beer from around the globe.
Local wine distributors relish the idea of introducing their brands to potential customers, and school officials see this practice as a way to educate students on how to enjoy alcohol without abusing it.
In this article, a school official claimed that students learned to either abuse alcohol or avoid it altogether. She said that students never learned a middle ground where they could enjoy alcohol in moderation without getting drunk. Programs such as the one currently offered at Colby emulated regions of the world where alcohol doesn't have such a stigma attached to it - it is simply another beverage to be enjoyed while at a meal.
Unfortunately, some organizations think Colby's wine and beer tasting program encourages alcohol abuse. Representatives from the National Association on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism stated that there were already too many opportunities for students to get alcohol on campus, and that any school sponsored alcoholic parties showed negligence on the part of the organizers.
These organizations believe that policies embracing a relaxed view of alcohol consumption lead students to underestimate the negatives associated with alcohol abuse.
