Beer, wine should be banned from campuses

As a retired member of the Colorado State Patrol, I am disturbed by the line being drawn between distilled spirits on one side and beer and wine on the other at Stanford University. Banning hard liquor from Stanford’s campus while continuing to allow beer and wine sends a very wrong message to college students about alcohol consumption that imbibing distilled spirits is dangerous but drinking beer and wine is safe. It’s a surprising policy decision, given that several studies have shown that a great majority of binge drinking involves beer.

It doesn’t matter if someone is drinking beer, wine or liquor. It is the amount of the alcohol that is consumed that is the fundamental issue. If the desired outcome is to eliminate alcohol from college campuses, beer and wine should also be banned, instead of enshrining the safety of consuming beer and wine in the minds of young students.

Col. Lonnie J. Westphal Colorado State Patrol (retired) Larkspur, Colo.