BATON ROUGE-- The Louisiana Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking has called for a candlelight vigil tonight outside of the closed Baton Rouge bar where drinking binge victim Ben Wynne partied with his friends Monday night. The group says it will hold an alcohol awareness vigil outside Murphy's bar where students had celebrated being chosen by fraternities. Early Tuesday, Wynne died of acute alcohol poisoning. The investigation into his death continues and the bar remains closed voluntarily. Officials with Sigma Alpha Epsilon, which had chosen Wynne on Monday to be a member, said they only recently had a national symposium of all S-A-E chapter presidents at which
warnings went out about the dangers of binge drinking. Ben Wynne was buried yesterday in New Orleans.

AMA aims to curb binge drinking

CHICAGO, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- The American Medical Association says the alcohol-related death of a 20-year-old Louisiana State University student hammers home the need for initiatives to address the problem of binge drinking on college campuses.
The AMA is leading a national effort to change the environmental factors that encourage excessive drinking.
A 1993 Harvard University survey says more than half the students in
one-third of U.S. college campuses are binge drinkers. The AMA says, "This is not surprising given the barrage of alcohol advertising and promotions aimed at young people."  The AMA says that by the age of 18, the average teenager has seen more than 100,000 beer commercials. One survey shows 73 percent of nine to 11-year-olds
recognized the Budweiser frog second only to Bugs Bunny.
LSU student Benjamin Wynne had a blood alcohol level of .588 percent -- well above the .10 percent level to be considered drunk -- when he was taken to Baton Rouge Medical Center, where he died Tuesday.
Authorities believe Wynne may have consumed 25 to 30 drinks in one hour  during a binge drinking fest.
The AMA is working with six U.S universities and their surrounding communities to curb binge drinking by changing norms, attitudes, policies and practices affecting drinking on and off campus. The program, "Matter of Degree," is funded by an $11 million grant from theRobert Wood Johnson Foundation. ---
Copyright 1997 by United Press International.
All rights reserved. --- Copyright 1997
 

Evan Brewster  2002 Louisiana Youth Alcohol Poisoning Death

Coroner: Teen died of alcohol poisoning

By The Associated Press
COVINGTON -- A 15-year-old boy, who died after his mother found him unconscious in bed Saturday, suffered alcohol poisoning from drinking bourbon with a friend during a sleepover, authorities said.

Evan Brewster, a ninth-grader, had a blood-alcohol level of about 0.30 percent, roughly three times above the legal limit for driving, according to an autopsy

Fatal coolness  Another Child dies Alcohol Poisoning 15yr old boy from Covington Louisiana, becomes one of Louisiana's most recent youth Alcohol fatality.  

This young man was doing what teenagers across this state do.  Parents, Educators, Adults, all want to believe it can't or won't happen to their child.  The fact is as we have stated in HopeNetWorks,  over and over, is that  nothing kills more of our children than Alcohol.  An illegal drug for minors.  This child's family, friends, are not alone, and unless something changes, they won't be the last family to experience such a tragic loss, my heart goes out to this family, and we will continue to do all we can to educate and raise awareness, push for real policy that really works.

Lax Culture, and Passive Policy continues to prove fatal for Louisiana's youth.  A plague our youth in this state are facing everyday.  Will this young man become one more number in a chart that we use to plead and beg our policy makers for help with?  I pray not.  We took action collectively for the first last spring, and it is with great hope that we remember this young man, and the countless others,  who are looking to find the magic in a bottle.    Sending messages to our youth through billboards, Sports events, radio, television, and the like, well it works, and this being said it has become part of our culture here in Louisiana.  Now we must take back our communities, and make it "cool" to choose otherwise.

Education and Awareness, enforcement, and a general sway in our cultures perception of underage drinking must occur.  Binge drinking is enough in of itself to merit change.  But that is the tip of the ice burg.  Our lax culture, and passive policy, does not treat Alcohol like the drug it is.  For minor's like this young man who died in Covington, it is an illegal drug.   There are countless others (1 in 4) facing a predisposition for addictive disorders.  Do we have resources to provide environmental diversions for these youth?  Do we have funds to handle the cleanup if we don't?

100,000 Americans Die each year as a result of alcohol, yet there is not a single warning label to identify risk for those who have a family history or heavy environmental exposure known to increase for problems with alcohol consumption.
 

Need Help?  National Alcohol & Other Drug Resources Here

Past work for Youth & Substance Abuse