The University of Northern Colorado recently held an event to educate students on the line between having fun and getting into a dangerous situation.
The Office of Health Promotion hosted their Party with a Plan event last week, urging students to put a little extra thought into their night’s out.
Drinking can come with a lot of unintended consequences. According to OHP, 16% of students did something they regretted after partying too hard, and 30% of students forgot what they did or where they were. But preventing this is possible by watching how much you’re drinking. Lily Solorzano, a peer health educator with OHP, says that who you’re with can also play an important role in avoiding harm.
“Make sure that you’re surrounding yourself with people who are willing to help give you reminders and willing to help you stay safe,” Solorzano said. “The company you keep is part of your safety.”
Solorzano also recommended ordering one of the Office of Health Promotion’s Plan-It-SAFER packs. Packs come with supplies like drink covers, electrolyte packets, fentanyl test strips and Narcan nasal spray.
While being careful with your drinking is important, alcohol is not the only potentially dangerous substance out there. According to the CDC, over 150 people a day die from overdoses related to synthetic opioid use. One of those synthetic opioids, fentanyl, is often mixed in with other drugs like cocaine or heroin. Fentanyl extremely hard to detect, so you may not even know it’s there. That’s why it’s not a bad idea to keep Narcan on you, even if you don’t think you will need it.
“It might not necessarily be you, but it could be someone you know, or if you’re in the position to help someone, it’s always better to be able to help than feel helpless,” Solorzano said.
Aiden Krause, another peer health educator, had the same outlook.
“It’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it,” Krause said.
Along with their Plan-It-SAFER packs, OHP also has bedside boxes including items like condoms and dental dams to keep students safe after the partying ends. Both types of boxes are free for students.
For more information on ordering a box or accessing further education on substance use, safe sex and mental health, you can visit the Office of Health promotion’s website.
