At this fall’s Clubs Fair, Gord Houseman (3L) had an idea: a club dedicated to drinking and enjoying scotch. He quickly scribbled down “Scotch Club” on a scrap piece of paper and began soliciting members. In just 20 minutes – without a table or a sign – Gord got 92 signatures.
It is well-known that a lot of students at the faculty like to drink, and it is equally well-known that a lot of them do not. What is less well-known and rarely discussed, however, is why students choose to drink or abstain in the way they do. Why are alcohol-fueled pub nights the most popular social event at the faculty? Why do some students avoid pub nights at all costs? And why did the Scotch Club’s inaugural event sell out in under two hours?
This discourse is important: statistics about mental health and substance abuse in law schools and the legal profession are alarming. In a 2009 paper in an Australian law journal, author Kath Hall notes that “law students are four times more likely than students in other degrees to suffer from anxiety and depression.” This comparison includes high-stress professional programs such as medicine. Earlier American studies have produced similar findings: a 1986 study found that 17-40% of American law students suffer from depression and a 2002 study found that most law students experience increases in depression within six months of beginning law school.
These statistics are relevant to a discussion about drinking habits in law school due to many individuals’ tendency to self-medicate mental health problems with alcohol. Two American studies conducted in the 1990s found that an increased dependence on alcohol was a common coping strategy for law students. Accordingly, perhaps it is not all that shocking that a 1992 study found that 31% of American law students fell in the “definite alcoholism” category.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol and Alcoholism (NIAA), an alcoholic suffers from the following four symptoms: (1) craving – a strong need, or compulsion, to drink; (2) loss of control – the inability to limit one’s drinking on any given occasion; (3) physical dependence – withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety, occur when alcohol use is stopped after a period of heavy drinking; and (4) tolerance – the need to drink greater amounts of alcohol in order to “get high.” Indeed it is easy to locate horror stories online about lawyers who have seen their practices destroyed as a result of their alcoholism.
But do any UT Law students identify themselves as alcoholics who need help? UV informally surveyed a large group of upper year students: among other questions we asked them about the law school’s drinking culture and whether they thought this drinking was excessive. While some students took issue with the emphasis on drinking at the law school, no one suggested that they themselves or their fellow students were “definite alcoholics.”
Indeed, students who admitted to drinking to excess would normally fall into the category of binge drinkers, not alcoholics. The NIAA defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 grams percent or above. This typically happens when men (women) consume 5 (4) or more drinks in two hours.Most people who binge drink are not alcohol dependent. Further, rightly or wrongly, binge drinking is often seen as perfectly normal in the university context.
But you do not have to be an alcoholic to have a drinking problem. Binge drinking mixed with anxiety, depression or other mental health issues can be a recipe for disaster.
When asked to comment on alcohol abuse at the law school, Assistant Dean of Students Alexis Archbold stated that “The students who come to me because they are struggling rarely disclose alcohol use as a related issue. Occasionally [they] talk about substance abuse problems, but in most almost every case to date, the issue has been drugs.
“Having said that, students over the years have commented on the strong culture of drinking and socializing at the law school, and the ways this tends to exclude students who don’t drink or who, because of other obligations, are not available to socialize with classmates in the evenings. In particular, this issue comes up every year as a criticism of our O-Week activities. I think it is important that the SLS and the law school’s administration offer and support a broad range of social activities that is inclusive and builds a positive and healthy community at the law school.”
Indeed, a number of students who do not drink, or do not drink often, indicated that they are often met with surprise and disbelief when they explain to their colleagues that they are not drinking at a social event. One student noted that “[t]here seems to be a presumption of drinking at law school events – i.e. the default is to drink. If you decline a drink, people take note and ask why not. While such inquiries stem from good intentions, it just demonstrates the default. Religion and pregnancy seem to be the only tickets to a safe harbor from the interrogation. … In contrast, my non-drinking passes without a blink in my non-law school social circles.”
While there are a wide variety of law school clubs and activities that do not centre on drinking, the official social events organized by the SLS typically involve alcohol (i.e. weekly pub nights, law ball, etc.). The SLS has recognized and attempted to address this in recent years. Regular coffee houses during the afternoon and early evening allow students to socialize without drinking. In addition, the SLS has stopped including language that encourages excessive drinking in its weekly emails.
The SLS has planned to host non-drinking night-time activities for some time now, but these events are much harder to plan. Pub nights are free to book because they are always popular and because bars make money from drink sales. It is more difficult to book non-drinking events – such as, for example, a night of skating at Nathan Philips Square – because there is no precedent for student buy-in, and because they cost money.
The good news is that the SLS and Faculty both recognize the importance of encouraging official non-drinking events at the law school and have come up with a potential solution to end the stalemate: a new fund has been created by the Dean’s Office to finance non-pub night social events. Students can bring their ideas for non-pub night socials to the SLS and request funding to host it. The SLS specified that “in order to be eligible for funding, a proposed event must enhance the student experience and foster a sense of community by providing new ways for students to connect.”
This is a positive step towards making the law school a more inclusive place. Binge drinking habits are entrenched, however, and many students will still consume alcohol to excess. Whether this is good or bad will vary from student to student.
Requests for social event funding can be submitted to [email protected] or VP Social Affairs, Danielle Glatt at [email protected]. Applicants will be expected to participate in planning the event.
