Abuse In College

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Alcohol and Substance Abuse in College It comes as no surprise that binge drinking and substance abuse are easily connected to college students in the United States. According to the National Institute on Alcohol and Alcoholism, “almost half of college student drinkers partake in heavy episodic consumption” which is defined as consuming five or more drinks in a row for men, and four or more drinks for women in a single outing. Are colleges really doing enough to discourage the problem of heavy drinking in the student body? A study published online in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research says that colleges can do more to fight the alcohol-loving culture in students. The study points out failures in the colleges' attempts to drive…show more content…
“Health centers can systematically screen all students that come in to see if they are at risk for alcohol misuse or abuse. If students meet the criteria, the students could then be referred to evidence-based interventions or treatment programs.” So it seems that a lack of communication, or perhaps adequate policy, could be part of the problem. If campus police are unaware of the benefits of sending a student to a health screening instead of a issuing a fine, then the problem will continue to grow. And this isn't only for alcohol abuse, but other drugs as well. According to a study from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), students said they drank or used drugs to relax, reduce stress or forget about problems. They also found: The percentage of students who reported smoking marijuana heavily — at least 20 days during the past month — more than doubled, from 1.9% in 1993 to 4% in…show more content…
Those who said they engaged in binge drinking - defined as having five drinks for male students and four drinks for female students at one "drinking occasion" during the previous two weeks - held at 40%. It is obvious that alcohol and substance abuse is on the rise. Even underage drinking is on the rise. I asked a college student, James Criss, what he had to say about this issue. “Before I turned 21, I had drank alcohol on numerous occasions on, and off of campus. It was really no big deal, everyone was doing it. You were almost expected to- if you wanted to fit in.” This goes to show the level of tolerance that exists for this type of behavior. I asked a former student what he thought of the practices used by authorities to deal with these situations, and if they were effective. He said “I don't think they work very well. I was caught drinking once when I was 19, and they just sort of let me go with a 50 dollar ticket.” He says “I just kept drinking like that, and nothing good ever came of it. I wish I had stopped then, because I think my grades suffered because of it. But hey, it's normal. Who cares?” (Wright) He later went on to drop out of school
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