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<br /> <br /> <br />Chapel Hill Coalition Aims to Reduce High Risk Drinking <br /> <br />By Joey DeVito <br />Posted October 13, 2016 at 11:57 am <br /> <br />A new town-gown coalition is working to reduce high risk drinking in Chapel Hill. <br />In a recent survey, 71 percent of college students and 47 percent of high school seniors here <br />reported using alcohol in the previous 30 days. <br />The Campus and Community Coalition to Reduce the Negative Impacts of High Risk Drinking <br />are taking on the problem of high-risk drinking that exists in Chapel Hill and various <br />communities. The origins of the group started in 2013 when former Chancellor Holden Thorp <br />and former Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt convened a group to tackle the issue of binge <br />drinking. Under the name of “The Town Gown Collaborative,” spokesman Elinor Landes says <br />they are focused on the environment in which students make decisions about drinking. <br />“The coalition recommended that the university update its alcohol policy,” said Landes. <br />“They’ve updated it to make it a campus-alcohol policy instead of a student-alcohol policy. That <br />new policy went into effect on August 1st.” <br />The group is also working on a social norms campaign that would promote healthy behaviors <br />and correct incorrect perceptions about campus alcohol culture. <br />In regards to high school drinking, Landes says they want parents to get the conversation started <br />earlier with their kids. <br />“Research has proven the impact of having a conversation with your student before they arrive <br />on campus can reall y have positive effects on decisions that students make around drinking,” <br />said Landes.