Hudson, Sibley speaks to WABI about binge drinking trend

Sean Sibley, nurse practitioner at the Northern Light Health Cutler Center at the University of Maine, and Kevin Hudson, student life educator, spoke to WABI-TV (Channel 5 in Bangor) about “BORG,” or Blackout Rage Gallon, where a gallon jug of water is half-emptied, then filled with alcohol and electrolyte solutions. The idea is even though one may be drinking up to 17 servings of alcohol in one container, the water and electrolytes reduce the effects of dehydration or a hangover. Sibley added high amounts of alcohol in a short amount of time can have long-lasting effects. “…if you’re consuming that amount of alcohol in a small period of time, it’s definitely going to increase your blood alcohol content pretty quickly. And nothing you do as far as electrolytes or hydration is going to speed up that metabolism, and the alcohol it’s still sticking around and building up,” Sibley said. Hudson added that UMaine takes a “harm reduction approach” to issues like these. “This is a systemic problem, and we’re trying to allow people that education to go out…with a better sense of what they want out of the experience, versus what TikTok or social media is telling them,” Hudson said.