Pubdate: Tue, 21 Feb 2006
Source: Herald News, The (Fall River, MA)
Copyright: 2006 The Herald News
Contact:  http://www.heraldnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3604
Author:  Will Richmond, Herald News Staff Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

PROGRAM TARGETS ADDICTION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

DARTMOUTH -- The adventure of going to college is one layered with pitfalls

While there are students who are able to control themselves and 
maintain a lifestyle of moderation, there is also the other end of 
the spectrum filled with  students who binge drink, rely on drugs to 
relax or gamble away every penny.

For those students, the AdCare North Dartmouth Outpatient Clinic at 
88 Faunce Corner Road is offering a College Substance Abuse Education Group.

Administered by Director of Outpatient Services Alicen J. McGowan, 
the group began as a pilot program in September with six University 
of Massachusetts Dartmouth students and grew this January, with the 
start of a new  semester, to 12 students from UMass Dartmouth, 
Providence College, Bristol  Community College and Massasoit 
Community College. Enrollment in the program is  ongoing.

McGowan, who developed the program to have the feel of a college 
class in order to make it as comfortable as possible for students, 
said it is  aimed at students who have reached an extreme of 
substance abuse, with some  students coming to the program through 
court referrals or at the request of  parents.

"There is a pressing need to tell young people about the dangers  of 
drug and alcohol abuse," McGowan said.

Students in the program meet  once a week for an hour and a half as a 
group with McGowan and also once a week  individually with a 
counselor. For students in the program from UMass Dartmouth,  the 
weekly sessions are supplemented with the school's counseling  department.

Program sessions range from topics on why the participants  feel they 
need alcohol to gateway effects of marijuana and the effects of 
cocaine and other opiates on the body. McGowan also discusses the 
dangers of  prescription drugs such as Oxycontin and how they can 
connect to heroin  abuse.

"The bottom line is there's nothing wrong with having a drink if the 
body can handle it," McGowan said. "The problem is someone who is 
drinking  every day to cope with something."

McGowan knows college students have to  deal with more than just 
drugs and alcohol. So sessions on anger management,  stress reduction 
and dealing with peer pressure are also offered.

McGowan  said a session has been added to deal with gambling, a 
growing problem on  college campuses where high-stakes poker and 
online gambling is becoming all the  rage.

"Gambling is in, and I'm afraid it's going to get much bigger," McGowan said.

In many cases, McGowan said, there are two hurdles the  participants 
need to clear while in the program.

"The first challenge is  to get people to recognize the problem," 
McGowan said. "The next challenge is  get them to understand the problem."

As an example, McGowan tries  stressing to students that just because 
alcoholism doesn't exist in their family  it doesn't mean they are 
exempt from the problem.

"It's not just  hereditary. There is a second way (to become 
dependent on alcohol)," McGowan  said. "If you keep consuming, it can 
change your neurodependency.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman