The University of Idaho’s Campus Community Coalition hosted a meeting devoted to reducing the risks of alcohol and other drugs Jan. 26.
Brian Dulin, coordinator for the Alcohol and other Drugs Program, said the coalition has held other meetings like this on campus in the past, but it’s been years since their last meeting in the town hall.
“This is the first meeting we’ve held in the town hall in three years,” Dulin said. “It seems like it’s something that was just overdue.”
Dulin said the purpose of the meeting was to explore every viable option, suggestion and recommendation for reducing as many alcohol and drug-related risks to students.
“Our goal is to highlight what is currently being done,” Dulin said. “We have a lot of great information we want to share, like the state-wide medical amnesty, which breaks down barriers for students to call emergency services for their friends without getting in trouble.”
Emilie McLarnan, coordinator for Violence Prevention Programs, was one of the guest speakers during the meeting. She said her main goal was to inform students of the risks they subject themselves to when they consume too many drinks.
“Alcohol can be used intentionally by somebody who is working to reduce the resistance from the target they’ve selected,” McLarnan said. “With that, it is also associated with the risk factor of perpetrating a sexual assault.”
Captain Tyson Berrett of the Moscow Police Department also spoke at the meeting. Berrett said the university has made many improvements on campus and has transformed the area into a secure community. Berrett said the number of drug or alcohol-related incidents have lowered dramatically in the past couple years.
“In the 2010-2011 academic year the MPD issued about 177 minor related alcohol citations. In the 2015-2016 academic year there was only 47,” Berrett said. “Looking back only 10 years ago, there wasn’t even close to as many programs focused on reducing alcohol consumption.”
Andrew Ward can be reached at [email protected]
*This story has been updated to reflect the correct name of Captain Tyson Berrett.