Home > MetNews

Exhibit explores downside of booze
By Brandon Daviet
bdaviet@mscd.edu

Photo by Jenn LeBlanc • jkerriga@mscd.edu UCDHSC student Manuel Giron explores the interactive display titled Live Outside the Bottle April 25 in the Tivoli Multicultural Lounge. The diplay was brought to campus by Cephalon, a drug manufacturer.

Drinking is a rite of passage for many college students on campuses worldwide and often goes hand in hand with the college experience. Colleges across the country have struggled to find ways to help alcohol-dependent students cope with their addiction.

Last week Metro hosted Live Outside the Bottle: The History of Alcohol in America, a traveling educational exhibit designed to help people understand alcoholism and connect those seeking help with available resources.

“What we are hoping to do through education is helping people understand that alcohol is a disease and is not something to be ashamed about, and there are treatment options available for people in need,” said Karen McCollum, senior manager of press relations for biopharmaceutical company Cephalon.

Cephalon, along with pharmaceutical company Alkermes, cosponsored the event. The two companies believe that several FDA-approved drugs they have developed are viable treatment options in addition to support, counseling and education.

Depade, a new drug, is designed to reduce craving. Antabuse, an older drug, causes flushing and nausea if a person drinks.

The weeklong presentation, held in the Tivoli Multicultural Lounge, was set up much like a museum installation and featured interactive exhibits detailing the effects of alcohol on the body and mind. Models of alcohol-ridden brains and livers along with video presentations on the dangers of drinking were among the features designed to help students and their families gain knowledge and explore treatment options for alcohol dependence.

Cephalon admittedly wants people to consider using their medicines, and McCollum made a point to stress that the medications are only one option and are not intended to take the place of self-help groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and other avenues of recovery.

“What we are trying to do here is gather all the information about alcoholism in one place. This is not to replace what people are doing in groups like A.A. … We want to encourage people to seek the help, advice and counsel of a medical professional,” McCollum said.

For those considering treatment for alcohol-related problems, especially college students who are strapped for cash, cost is a big concern. A list of doctors specializing in substance abuse throughout Colorado was compiled by the two companies and available at the exhibit. Many of the doctors listed accepted both private insurance as well as the state-based insurance program Medicaid.

Also represented at the event was Denver’s Office of Drug Strategy. A division of Colorado’s Department of Health and Human Services, the office was set up in 2000 by former Mayor Wellington Webb and expanded by Mayor John Hickenlooper in 2006. The office focuses on developing resources and reducing the numbers of those suffering from alcohol and drug addiction.

Karla Maraccini, the director of the Office of Drug Strategy, attended the exhibit on Wednesday and spoke about the office’s views on the exhibit.

“We really want to support all different methods of recovery,” Maraccini said. “It is important for people to find what works for them.”

Part of that educational focus consisted of a scrapbook filled with stories of recovery written by members of the self-help group Faces and Voices of Recovery, or FAVOR. FAVOR’s approach to recovery is one of positive reinforcement and video clips of member’s testimonies about recovery.

In addition to the multimedia presentations, the exhibit featured several speakers. Sandra Haynes, the dean of the School for Professional Studies at Metro and a member of the Office of Drug Strategy committee, spoke briefly on Wednesday about statistics relating to alcohol abuse in the city and county of Denver and the committee’s current mission.

“Alcohol abuse cuts across gender, race and nationality,” Haynes said. “The bad news for us is that Denver’s alcohol- and drug-related problems are significantly more serious than the national average.”

Haynes said that chronic and binge drinking are about 40 percent higher among Denver adults than among adults nationwide and Denver residents are hospitalized for alcohol-related illnesses at nearly twice the national rate. The committee is working on a multiyear plan, slated to begin no later than February 2008, for programs and services to help identify those with alcoholism, enhance collaboration in the community and lower the rate of the disease in Denver.

“It is important to remember that alcoholism is a disease. The craving that an alcoholic feels for alcohol can be as strong as the need for food and water. Like many other diseases, alcoholism is chronic, meaning that it will last a person’s lifetime.”

The exhibit has a web site full of resources at http://www.liveoutsidethebottle.com.