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In the past years, it is understood that drug culture is an essential part to the full
college experience. The time that young adults spend in the microcultures of green
quads and large lecture halls is heavily intertwined with drugs. According to the
National Institute of Drug Abuse, daily marijuana use among college students has
increased in the population from 3.7% in 1995 to 4.6% in 2015. As well as, a directly
proportional increase in binge drinking among the college students recorded at 31.9%
in 2015, with only 23.7% of student of college age not attending school (Drug, 2016).
These values suggest that the college lifestyle acts as a catalyst for drug use
behavior which is now linked to those who are now common offenders or drug
abusers. The focus should be redirected away from the common offenders to the
psychological and physiological consequences of the recreational drugs.
70%
of college students using drugs
do so to improve attention
A new group of drugs called academic enhancers are dominating college campuses.
The drug culture of college students is changing from just doing drugs for fun and now
letting the influence seep into the classroom. Students use this advantage to take
chemicals to seek academic excellence. According to the American Psychological
Association, Adderall and Ritalin came on the scene in the late 1990s and have been a
drug of choice among students more and more each year (2). In 2005, only 6.9% of
students from a representative sample of 119 colleges and universities had used
Ritalin, Dexedrine or Adderall without a prescription (2). Sounds like a fairly small
number, right? It is important to point out that figure is an average because some
schools recorded 0% but some schools recorded as high as 25% (2). One fourth of
students had admitted to using an academic stimulant without a prescription, a
chemical that only came into play less than 20 years ago at the time of the study. The
APA attempted to explain the popularity of these drugs, explaining that in the
traditional drug culture, students used drugs as a means of escape. Now, 70% of
students claim to use these drugs to improve attention and 54% of students say
they are trying to improve study habits. (2) So, yes students are using drugs just a
much, if not more, than they were before. However, is it better that students are
abusing these chemicals to improve their academic performance than as a means of
escape?