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Introduction
Regardless of tthe attention given to the issue, the effects of drugs on students are always understated. This is typical because the entire scope of the problem is rarely understood. More often than not, only the individuals caught taking the drugs are attended to. In the process, a whole lot of other people who, by association, are victims of the drug, are left unattended to. To effectively deal with the issue of drug inonampuses, it is important to note that the problem affects both the drug users and those around them. And since the effects of drug use can easily be fatal, the issue should be given more attention than it is currently receiving.
Consequences of drug abuse
Drug use in college campuses regularly results in permanent losses. The losses can be in form of life or property. College deaths due to alcohol poisoning, for example, are much more common than is frequently recorded. Sometimes though, the victim may be a close associate of the drug user, who ends up paying for the drug user’s wayward behavior. Drugs also make the temperaments of students unstable and unpredictable, and many cases of vandalism within colleges have been linked back to them Americann, N.D.). And ultimately, the academic performances of the drug users can never be expected to be at par with what they would otherwise be if the student didn’t engage in drug use.
Drug abuse has often been linked to crimes. Most criminals caught are found to be under the influence of some drug. The reason for this is that drugs tend to lower a person’s inhibitions, and the person is then more likely to engage in risky behavior. A high percentage of juveniles arrested for ca rime are found to be heavy drug users (Eric, N.D.). For such individuals, the drug use has affected all their perceptions, such that they virtually don’t understand the dangers associated with their activities. Punishing them, or trying to rectify them, becomes a tricky issue then because they first need to be made to understand that their actions are wrong (William, 1953).
Some secondary effects of drugs are also largely ignored. For example, most hard drugs are injected into the body. The drugs in this category include cocaine and heroin. These drugs become addictive after a very short time. But an even more immediate danger ensues from the fact that most drug users share their needles. Dangerous infections can be transmitted from one person to another through this practice. Infections like AIDS and Hepatitis are especially significant in this respect (Kids Health, N.D.). Thus the drug user not only becomes dependent on a terrible master but also inherits a terminal infection in the process. It’s a lose-lose situation, and students should be made aware of this fact.
Statistics on drug abuse
The statistics on drug use within the US are staggering. About 79% of all students in the country have already experimented with alcohol. One in every two students is a regular consumer of alcohol. The hard drugs also show shocking figures. About 47% of all students have taken Marijuana at one time or another in the past. And Cocaine, the king of the hard drugs by some estimates, has been experimented with by 8.2% of the students in the country. 17% of students have succumbed to social pressure and used a host of other illegal drugs like LSD and Ecstasy (Aspen, N.D.). And of the more docile ones, 16% have experimented with inhalants like glue or spray paints. These statistics show just how serious the drug abuse problem is. Some radical action is called upon if the situation is to be contained.
Examples of drugs abused in colleges
Sometimes, drug use on campuses occurs simply because the drugs are easily available. For example, the drug “Ecstasy” has become more and more common within college compounds. This drug is a form of amphetamine and hence works by uplifting the user’s moods for several hours, before bringing those moods crashing back down. While in the “high” state, the user is likely to suffer from paranoia, insomnia, and hallucination. The drug is not harmless, however. It is known to cause permanent brain damage, and some hapless users have died from just one dose of the drug (Kelly, N.D.). Yet all this information is usually not made available to the students. Instead, popular culture, trendsetters, and other strong influences like Hollywood glorify the drug, making it almost irresistible to the students. Under the influence, and wishing to relieve themselves of academic strains, the students cave in, and a potentially bright future is put at risk.
The scene set by Ecstasy is but the stereotype for all drug uses within campuses. The students are highly dependent on their environments for their rationalities. If the popular rationale at the time is that drugs are heroic or fashionable, the students engage in them without compunctions. Drug dealers know this, and they drum up support for their illicit business in any way they can. The negative effects of drugs are downplayed. Yet, as the example of Ecstasy shows, drugs can be woefully retrogressive. Public campaigns to disseminate this information should be organized, with real statistics to show to the students just how dangerous their little escapades can be.
Alcohol is the most common drug used on campuses. The reason for this is that it is widely available in the open market, and is cheap. Most students, when consuming alcohol, don’t think of it as a drug. Popular culture has branded the drug in a way that it looks like an integral part of civilization. But alcohol is a drug (McBride, 1910). When consumed, it gives a momentary relief from everyday chaos by relaxing the person and eventually making him or her sleepy. Later, the person feels depressed, and it is at this point that some people take in more of the alcohol to retain the relaxed moods (Jerald et al, 1986). With time, alcohol can be habit-forming, with the user becoming psychologically dependent on it. Some people reach a state whereby they can’t function for long without taking in some alcohol. And trying to break this dependence can be a harrowing experience, with extreme tremors and fevers occurring (Kids health, N.D.). Clearly, alcohol is not as harmless as it is touted to be.
Some drugs abused by the general civilizations have started to find their way into colleges and campuses. One of them is the drug Hydrocodone. It is a relatively new drug in the trafficking market but is catching up really fast. The market names for the drug vary with the manufacturers, but the most common of these is Vicodin, Lorcet, and Lortab (Joseph, N.D.). The drug is an opiate, and hence abuse can lead to dependence and ultimate addiction.
The fines for possession of Hydrocodone drugs are stiff, but an arrest has to be made before they can be applied. And that’s another major problem associated with colleges. The students, by definition, are protected from the full impact of the law. Colleges make students immune from the law. Yet at the same time, they enjoy all the liberal privileges of a private citizen out there. Because of this, vices can easily develop within colleges, and they do. Government policies regarding this situation should be reviewed, with the intention of balancing the students’ liberties with their sense of responsibility.
Hydrocodone is but one of the drugs being regularly abused by students. Other drugs like cough syrups with the drug dextromethorphan are also being abused. The insidious nature of this worrisome trend arises from the fact that this drug is usually prescribed in pharmacists or hospitals. Once a patient has it, it then becomes easy for another person to abuse it. For example, a parent may have cough syrups at home due to an ailing child. The drug-abusing sibling then secretively takes some of the drugs and consumes it. Within the home environment, monitoring such abuse is harder, since most parents don’t even suspect that it could be happening (Barbara, 2007). Sometimes, it takes an adverse effect from the drug for the person abusing it to be found out. Unfortunately, a huge proportion of these adverse effects are fatal. It may be too late to try and rehabilitate someone who has overdosed on Hydrocodone.
Other drugs of grave concern include Oxycontin, Ritalin, and Adderall. They are slowly finding their way into the college environments, despite all rigors instituted against their distribution. These three drugs can permanently affect brain function and should be avoided at all costs. Yet in a bid to increase the “highs” obtained from their intake, students combine them with alcohol (Barbara, N.D.). The results are almost always disastrous. Some students have lost their lives through this. Others have been permanently braining damaged, and have a lifetime to reckon on their misadventures.
Ploys by Drug Dealers
Drug dealers have been preying on the young innocence of students. In 2007, there were incidences of drug dealers mixing in their drugs with harmless over-the-counter products like candies, and branding them with less threatening names. Examples of drugs peddled this way are heroin and Tylenol. A common name given to such packages is “Cheese”. The unsuspecting youngster consumes the candy along with the drug. In Dallas, 19 teenagers died due to these drugs. The drug dealers behind this monstrous deed were preying on the young people, planning to make them drug dependent, before imposing the real charges and names on them (USA Today, 2007).
Some other drug dealers in Dallas were selling the drug directly, albeit still under the less threatening brands. For these drug dealers, peer pressure worked in their favor, whereby the teenagers would influence each other to take the drugs. These drugs were consumed by snorting. The cheap prices offered by the dealers lured many teenagers to the dealers. When police started to crack down on the trade, hundreds of teenagers were caught having the drugs in their possession (USA Today, 2007). It was an illuminating example of the lengths that the drug peddlers are willing to go to lure more customers into their traps.
Steps to curb drug abuse
Some schools colleges have started to take steps in order to curb this devastating trend amongst students. For example, in Oregon, Newberg School District has formed an initiative to reform all students believed to be currently taking drugs. The rationale for this initiative is that drug addiction is a predictable condition, and follows certain known trends. Thus, if the students are closely monitored, drug addicts can be found out, and ushered into a rectification program. The program works by incorporating the teachers, parents and the general community into the efforts to correct wayward students (Eric, N.D.). In this way, it is hoped that drug use amongst students in Oregon will reduce, if not eradicated.
Several issues need to be addressed when forming any program to reduce drug abuse. For one, the underlying reasons for the abuse should be completely analyzed and understood. The students taking the drugs need also to be treated in a manner that is not demeaning. The rectification program should focus on the wayward habit, not the student himself (Eric, N.D.). In other words, the students should be made to understand that his or her case is not entirely unique, and that, in fact, anybody can become an addict. Once this message has been assimilated by the student, then the rehabilitation program can start (Jaffe, 1975).
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation programs for students should never point an accusing finger at the student. In most cases, the student becomes drug dependent through no fault of their own. Sometimes, a unique set of circumstances may make a student more predisposed to drug intake. Ignorance about the consequences of the action is a major problem, as already noted. Hence instead of concentrating on the student’s faults, the rehabilitation program should show empathy for the student, and concentrate more on effective ways of getting rid of the habit (Fox et al, 1987).
One of the most important issues to consider in any drug rehabilitation program is its consistence. For every institution, the remedies and consequences instituted for cases of drug abuse should remain constant, regardless of context or personalities involved. This renders credibility and dependability to the program, and ultimately makes it more effective. A program that keeps on changing principles or stand points casts a less confident image, and is less likely to be taken seriously (Nestler, et al, 2004).
After the student has been successfully delivered from the addiction, a period of counseling should follow. During this period, the student’s sense of self esteem should be built up. Most drug abusers have fragile self images, and need to be handled carefully during the counseling stage. Popular perceptions play an important role here too. For example, many students look down on such organizations as Alcoholics Anonymous. Taking a student to such a grouping may hence not be a good idea (College drug Abuse, N.D.). The biggest effort should be concentrated on giving moral support to the drug abuser. Those assisting with the counseling should try and see things from the student’s point of view. More often than not, the drug abuser does not even know that he or she has a problem. And so initially, the drug abuser may be resistant towards any corrective measures. But if the effort to correct him or her is maintained, the student will ultimately be grateful to all who assisted in the transformation (Jaffe, 1975).
Criticism
Even with the rampant, and sometimes fatal cases of drug abuse in college campuses, there are still dissenting voices that state that the students’ personal will and freedom should never be interfered with. According to them, a college student is mature enough to make personal decisions, and hence should be left to do so. They contend that drug abuse, while unfortunate, is too small an issue to grant the overhauling of college regulations in a bid to enforce good behavior. They also contend that students learn as much, or even more, from experience, than from mere classroom rhetoric. In short, their view is that if a student can’t learn from theory, then perhaps reality will drive the concepts home better.
While there is some merit to these dissenting opinions, the complete picture still need to be looked at again. For while some college students do have the prudence to live independently and responsibly, some others simply don’t have that capability. It’s all got to do with their upbringing. For some students, the amount of personal freedom experienced in the campus is not a new thing. For others though, that kind of freedom is not only unfamiliar, it is also distinctly disorienting. For this latter group, falling prey to the manipulations of drug peddlers is easy. Before they know it, they are caught in the death traps of drug abuse. It for these students that drug control within campuses should be taken more seriously.
References
Aspen Education (N.D.) Adolescents and drug abuse.
Barbara Pytel (2007) Student substance abuse.
College Drug Abuse (N.D.). College drug and alcohol abuse: Keys to prevention.
Eric (N.D.) Stopping drug abuse.
Fox, C. Lynn, Shirley Forbing and Patricia S Anderson (1987) Planning Model for Successful Drug-Free Schools Portland, Oregon: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory,
Jaffe, J.H. (1975). Drug addiction and drug abuse In L.S. Goodman & A. Gilman (Eds.) The pharmacological basis of therapeutics (5th ed.). New York: MacMillan.
Jerald G Bachman, Lloyd D. Johnson and Patrick M. O’Malley (1986) Drug Use Among American High School Students, College Students, And Other Young Adults: National Trends Through 1985. Rockville, Maryland: National Institute on Drug Abuse
Joseph Devine (N.D.). The dangers of drug abuse .
Kelly Kaufhold (N.D.) Use of Ecstasy explodes on-campus and in clubs.
Kids health (N.D.) Drugs: what you should know.
McBride C. A. Modern Treatment of Alcoholism and Drug Narcotism (New York, 1910)
Nestler, Eric and Malenka, Robert (2004) The Addicted Brain Scientific American
USA Today (2007) Drug dealers target young customers .
William, S. B. (1953) Junkie New York
Yesican (N.D.). Alcohol and drug abuse on college campuses.
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