The New Mexico Higher Education Prevention Consortium will present the results from its 2013 New Mexico Student Lifestyle Survey on Friday, Feb. 7 at the Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel at 10 a.m. Titled, “Breaking Good: Results from the 2013 New Mexico Statewide College Alcohol, Tobacco and Drug Survey,” the results paint a picture of college-aged students across New Mexico who are displaying a mature and responsible attitude when it comes to alcohol and substance abuse.

The UNM Campus Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (COSAP), a program of UNM’s Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions (CASAA), will release the findings on the statewide survey of college alcohol and other drug use behaviors. The results will be contrasted with COSAP’s earlier report (2008), enabling a look at five-year trends. Comparisons with U.S. data will be on the presentation’s agenda. The results will be presented in the Grand Quivera Banquet Room at the Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel, located at 2910 Yale Blvd. SE, in Albuquerque. Light refreshments will be served.

Key points of 2013 survey include: a decrease in binge drinking; a decrease in weekly alcohol consumption; and a decrease in risky behaviors associated with alcohol or drug consumption.

The consortium, which consists of Eastern New Mexico University, New Mexico State University, New Mexico Tech, San Juan College and the University of New Mexico, main campus and Valencia branch, is committed to collaboratively reducing the consequences associated with alcohol and other drug use through the implementation of evidence-based programs designed to increase wise decision-making.

Those programs include enforcing university policies related to alcohol and other drugs; promoting awareness of the illegality of purchasing and providing alcohol for minors; publicize the risk of DWI arrest and legal consequences; implement college campus social norms campaigns; and provide universal prevention programs to reduce risky drinking.

“At a time in New Mexico when we are focusing on improved academic performance and increased graduation rates, reducing drinking is more important than ever,” said John Steiner, director of the New Mexico Higher Education Prevention Consortium and program manager for COSAP, UNM’s Campus Office of Substance Abuse Prevention.

For more information, contact John Steiner, COSAP program manager, at (505) 277.2795 or email jstein@unm.edu.