Next week is spring break.
You have worked hard and you deserve a break. What are you planning to do? Rest? Play? Party? I know this is a big party time for many of you, so in the interests of your safety, I ask you to consider the following suggestions.
Make your own choices. It is your decision what to put into your body and how to spend your time. If you choose to drink, smoke marijuana, do ecstasy or other drugs, make it a conscious decision. Don’t let someone else decide for you. Don’t buckle to peer pressure, and don’t fool yourself into thinking it “just happened.”
You are the one who has to experience any consequences of your own behavior. Take responsibility for yourself.
Don’t overdo. Most injuries and deaths from substance use come from using too much. Alcohol overdose tragically kills college students every year, including two in New York just last week. Alcohol depresses your nervous system, and you need your nerves to breathe and beat your heart.
Take it slow.
Don’t binge. Match water for alcohol, ounce for ounce. Eat while you drink. Don’t smoke a whole joint at once. Space out your substances. Pay attention to your bodily cues to know when you have had enough.
Don’t mix and match.
If you mix alcohol with opiates you get a double downer, one that can stop your breathing. Also, avoid the latest deadly fad of mixing alcohol with energy drinks, like in the recently banned Four Loko.
Alcohol plus caffeine can mask the effects of alcohol until it is too late. The reason caffeinated energy drinks have been pulled from the market is that people died from alcohol poisoning because they couldn’t feel it coming on.
Watch out for each other.
If you get worried about someone you are partying with, don’t leave them alone. Someone who passes out and can’t be roused could be in real danger.
When in doubt, take them to a hospital. Doctors are not cops and will not bust you for underage drinking or illegal substance use, but they could save your life or that of your friend.
Think ahead.
Driving under the influence is a good way to end up injured or worse.
How are you going to get home? What are you going to do if you’re too wasted to get yourself there? Do you have a designated driver? Can you stay where you are? With whom do you feel safe? What is your exit strategy, your backup plan? You deserve a break, and I hope you have a lot of fun and plenty of rest.
If you choose to party, please be safe. See you next week.
Dr. Peggy Spencer has been a UNM Student Health physician for 17 years and a Daily Lobo contributing columnist for three years. E-mail your questions to her at Pspencer@unm.edu. All questions will be considered, and all questioners will remain anonymous. This column has general health information only and cannot replace a visit to a health provider.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
