Reducing risks associated with drinking among young adults: promoting knowledge-based perspectives and harm reduction strategies

The situation with regard to drinking is particularly complex for young adu lts: they are typically faced with pressures on one hand to abstain or drin k small quantities, and on the other hand there may be expectations to drin k heroic amounts and engage in risk-taking while drinking. Furthermore, in some cultures a very short transition period time is evident between condon ed occasional experimentation with alcohol and the expectations of being ab le to manage alcohol use in a wide range of settings. Also, the perceived i nvincibility among youth stands in sharp contrast to their high rates of tr aumatic events involving alcohol. The paper by Barbara Leigh examines the n ature and dimensions of risk-taking particularly among young adults. For ex ample, her analysis encourages us to look beyond preliminary associations a bout the proportion of certain events where drinking was involved, and cons ider whether drinking was a correlate or a contributing cause. The paper by James Mosher points to the importance of obtaining information about the p opulation, situation and drinker as a basis for population-level interventi ons, involving environmental changes in the promotion and distribution of a lcoholic beverages. The papers point to a search for interventions that are distinguished by thee's effectiveness in reducing hat-in, and not necessar ily by their faddish value. An essential step is drawing the younger drinke r into an accurate documentation of risk-taking experiences, and also in co llaborating in developing humane, reasonable and effective approaches in re ducing drinking-related harm.