University Daily Kansan
Thursday, Sept. 17, 1970
Health Director Finds Alcohol Greater Problem than Drugs
By FRANK SLOVER
Kansan Staff Writer
Dr. R. A. Schwegler, director or University Health Service, said he believes that alcohol was a much greater problem on the Lawrence campus than drug abuse.
"It's not being controlled nation-wide and we're sure not controlling it on this campus," he said. On Friday nights, he said students have carried the furniture out of the lobby, danced on the table and, on one occasion, struck an orderly.
Some of the biggest problems occur, Schwegler said, when students enter a drinking contest and try to drink a fifth of whisky without taking a breath.
"This can be lethal," he said.
The danger of alcohol is that the process is irreversible once a certain percentage has been reached in the blood stream, he explained. Alcohol is one of the few substances that can be absorbed into the blood directly from the upper digestive tract through the stomach wall.
"Barbiturates, on the other hand," he noted, "can be washed out after the patient arrives at the hospital."
Fortunately, most overconsumers of alcohol don't die, because they vomit before the fatal point is reached, according to Schwegler, who said he was worried that some day a student's body might not reject the overdose.
Not too many "bad trips" on drugs arrive at the hospital, Schwegler said. He said he thought that most of these experiences were handled by friends.
He said that when somebody with an acute drug reaction came to Watkins Hospital he was admitted as an in-patient.
Unlike some other hospitals, Watkins gives no drugs to calm the patient and has been highly successful in "talking him down," Schwegler said.
No drugs are administered, he said, because the medical staff is never sure of the exact nature of
the initial drug, and the combination of the two could turn out badly.
"After the acute toxic phase, we refer the patient to a mental health facility," said Schwegler. If the drug experience was not strictly an experiment but a symptom of an underlying disorder, he said, psychiatric care can often be beneficial.
Gay Liberation Adopts Committee Organization
The main issue discussed and acted upon at the Lawrence Gay Liberation Front meeting Wednesday night was a new constitution written by the group.
The constitution abolished officers and organized the group into working committees. After lengthy discussion and a few minor changes the constitution was adopted by the approximately 40 voting members who were present.
The Front was encouraged by the results of a meeting held in Kansas City last Sunday. The situation in Kansas City is different from the Lawrence organization in that Gay Liberation and Women's Liberation are coordinating their activities there, a Front member said.
"There is a greater combination of age groups and professions
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with the Kansas City gay people," said a woman who had attended the meeting. "The Women's Liberation and Gay Liberation people are very close knit," she said.
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In the future, members from the Kansas City gay community who were present at the meeting Wednesday will be coordinating their efforts with the Lawrence Front.
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