While researching the connection between the gemstone amethyst and alcohol--for an upcoming peer conference sponsored by the Amethyst Network, our local Philadelphia based consortium of AOD providers in higher education--I came across the following:

"Amethyst, the most valuable crystal of the quartz family, comes in many colors ranging from pale delicate lilac to rich deep purple. It derives its name from a Greek word meaning "not intoxicated" and has been known historically for its supposed power to help one maintain that condition!

According to ancient myth, Bacchus, the god of wine, was so enraged over a slight by the goddess Diana that he vowed that the first person to enter his forest on the way to worship at Diana's temple would be devoured by his tigers. This hapless mortal turned out to be the beautiful virgin Amethyst, who was on her way to worship at the shrine of Diana. As the ferocious beasts sprang on her, she called on Diana for help and was turned into pure white stone. In repentance for his cruelty, Bacchus poured the juice of grapes over the stone and gave it its purplish-violet color.

In memory of the transformed nymph, the stone that bears her name was endowed with the ability to protect the wearer from the evils of intoxicating drink. The custom of drinking wine from cups of amethyst evolved in the belief that the gems would ensure one remained sober.

The Amethyst was credited with many other extraordinary attributes. Among its reputed benefits was an ability to quicken the intelligence and make the owner more successful in business, protect the soldier and assure victory, help hunters, guard against contagious diseases, and control evil thoughts.

To men, the amethyst promised sober judgment and industry; to women, lofty thoughts and religious love."

Taken from the King's Jewelery web site at http://www.kingsjewelry.com/learning_gemstones_feb.shtml

In light of this, it occurred to me that the solution to the abuse of alcohol on college and university campuses had, as is so often the case when seasrching for solutions to contemporary problems, been recorded in history and, therefore, has been available for our use if we would but open our eyes; as it suggests in the Old Testament, "Let them with ears hear and them with eyes see...or is that an old Woddy Guthery line, which may have been borrowed, as originally considered, from the OT...whatever. 

To be specific, I suggest for your consideration--and please know that I debated intently between sending this brief essay to formal online discussion group dedicated to issues of collegiate health and preventing alcohol and other drug related danger and the Journal of Polymorphous Perversity--that perhaps the solution to dangerous collegiate drinking does not so much have anything to do with federally mandated drinking ages or policy and procedures imposed by presidents of institutions of higher education so much as looking at a new approach to helping students orient to collegiate life once they arrive on campus. What it all institutions of higher education were to issue individualized drinking cups carved from genuine amethyst crystal to each and every student as s/he begins school on the first day?

To increase the likelihood that these cups, and these cups alone, will be used for the purpose of pursuing the apparently universal collegiate rite of passage of drinking alcohol (albeit, according to the Harvard study published by Henry Weschler et al. in 1993, only 32-44% of this nation's collegians engage in dangerous drinking when they consume), institutions of higher education should strongly encourage its Greek organizations and other campus student groups which sponsor "mixers" to offer "free refills" to any student presenting an GENUINE amethyst drinking mug.

Now, these mugs can be personalized with a particular institution's logo or Greek organization's letters, perhaps even both if done as a joint (more about joints and gemstones appropriate for preventing intoxication via marijuana later) venture. This will ensure school/organization spirit while at the same time documenting the concerted effort to control the abuse of alcohol but the sponsoring institution/group.

It occurs to me that this will be a rather expensive proposition initially. However, when considering the now dated data contained in Eigen's (1991) White Paper on campus alcohol use and abuse, especially those related to the belief of chief administrators in higher education who estimate that 25% of all attrition is directly attributable to alcohol related problems/issues, amethyst drinking cups will be cheap at twice the cost--by the way, it is likely that Eigen's report remains accurate if not a conservative estimate as exit interviews done with students leaving college or university before graduation often report "quality of life" issues as bein g a reason...you know what I mean...the conditions of bathrooms on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings; frequency of fire drills at 3 AM; intoxicated studfents mistaking a wastepaper can in a student's room for a urinal, etc. Those who leave prematurely because of their own alcohol-related difficulties like poor grades, added to those who leave because of "quality of life issues" plus a small but pronounced number who as "adult children of addiction" leave to return home because of concern about who is caring for younger siblings in an addicted household now that the eldest child who used to manage the house is now away at college, and you begin to understand the cost of alcohol and other drug issues to higher education...in collected tuition alone.

Now, some may argue that this is a ridiculous suggestion and that money spent on such a venture would accomplish only one result, something akin to the old ABC Evening News item on Fridays by Peter Jenning when he would deliver his biting comments about how "your money is being spent." But I beg that you not throw this idea out like the proverbial baby with the bath water.

When we read in the literature on expectations and drinking behavior (e.g., Alan Marlatt's "Bar Lab" studies at the University of Washington involving students who "thought" they were drinking regular beer and acted intoxicated in proportion to the number of "non-alcoholic" beers they consumed, i.e., they thought they should be intoxicated so they acted intoxicated), it is not to hard to see the possible merits of an amethyst drinking cup, provided an adequate job is done relating the story of Bacchus, Diana, and Amethyst to each student as students receives their individualized goblet. Of course, this would necessitate a dramatic revision of the job descriptions for most of those reading this essay, but to reduce the abuse of alcohol, hey, I'm game!

To read more essays by Dr. Chapman, click HERE