N.D. college binge drinking rates fall

BISMARCK (AP) — The rate of binge drinking among North Dakota college students is continuing a slow decline.

A new survey questioned almost 4,000 students last year about their drinking and drug habits. About 48 percent said they had five or more drinks in one sitting in the past two weeks. That is considered binge drinking.

Jane Vangsness Frisch is the university system’s director of substance abuse prevention.

She said the rate of binge drinking is now below 50 percent for the first time since 1994. She said the student survey has shown a decline in binge drinking since 2003.

The survey reports that marijuana smoking among college students is up slightly, but Frisch said drinking is much more common than pot use on college campuses.

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