Some Canadian universities are offering students a new option to stay safe when they think they鈥檝e consumed too much alcohol: places to sleep it off under supervision.
The University of Guelph鈥檚 campus alcohol recovery room (CARR) 鈥� sometimes called the 鈥渄runk tank鈥� -- is a six-bed space equipped with buckets that opened last year inside a campus residence building.
Students can sign up for a cot. Volunteers check them every 30 to 45 minutes for any signs they might need medical attention. Last semester, 51 people checked in. Two of them were sent to hospital.
Irene Thompson, director of student housing at Guelph, told CTV Kitchener it鈥檚 important that students who drink too much 鈥渁re not going to be just in their rooms by themselves or in their rooms with somebody else who may have overconsumed.鈥�
The University of Calgary has also recently opened a space where drunk students can sober up safely. The post-alcohol support space (PASS) is staffed by both volunteers and a registered nurse.
Kyle Guild, one of the student volunteers and a registered paramedic, a judgement-free zone.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not that sense of authority so I think interactions can be more relaxed,鈥� he said. 鈥淪tudents seem to trust us.鈥�
Research suggests many students are risky drinkers. When the surveyed 43,780 Canadian students in 2016, more than one in three admitted to having consumed five or more standard drinks in a single sitting in the previous two weeks.
The consequences can be deadly. There have been deaths linked to alcohol at , and .
has long had a 鈥渃ampus observation room鈥� for students to sober up in on most weekend evenings, as well as during orientation week and on St. Patrick鈥檚 Day.
With a report from CTV Kitchener鈥檚 Maleeha Sheikh
