Current Trends in Substance Use Among College Students

By Dessa Bergen-Cico Ph.D.
Director of Substance Abuse Prevention & Health Enhancement at Syracuse University

Alcohol continues to be the number one substance of abuse in the nation and on our College Campuses. On the average, 44% of college students are binge drinkers; whereas, the percentage of students who have chosen to abstain from drinking is 19% (Wechsler et al. 1999, 1993).

Marijuana and Designer Drugs (Ecstasy, LSD, Rohypnol, GHB, and DXM) are respectively the second and third most commonly abused drugs on college campuses. Inhalant use, particularly nitrous oxide, remains popular among adolescents and on college campuses. Cocaine continues to have a regular following. Heroine use has increased in popularity over the last several years among middle and upper class segments of our culture.

Ecstasy (MDMA) has become the most rapidly growing drug in popularity drugs on college campuses today. Ecstasy also known as "E" comes in pill form with a variety of different appearances. The traditional ecstasy pills were white with an X imprint as shown here, and are among the most common. The DanceSafe web site provides excellent information about the composition and identification of various ecstasy pills and their composition. With ecstasy as with all designer drugs, their composition varies greatly from batch to batch depending on the people making the drugs. Designer drugs; such as Ecstasy, LSD, GHB, and DXM are literally mixed in bathtubs, barns and basement labs. Therefore there is great volatility and variation in the chemical make-up and structure of these drugs.

A common misperception is that alcohol and other drug use begins with the arrival of students at college. However, a longitudinal study of the substance use trends among incoming college students noted that of those students who use marijuana the majority (51%) began using between 13 to 15 years of age (Bergen-Cico, 2000). According to the 1995 Monitoring the Future Survey, the higher the level of educational attainment, the more likely the current use of alcohol; and young adults who have less than a high school education are slightly less likely to have tried illicit drugs in their lifetime (i.e., 50 percent of those not completing high school compared to 52 percent of college graduates), 68 percent of adults with college degrees were current drinkers, compared with only 42 percent of those having less than a high school education.

About the Author

Dessa Bergen-Cico Ph.D. is the Director of Substance Abuse Prevention & Health Enhancement at Syracuse University. The "Syracuse University Twelve Point Plan for Substance Abuse Prevention & Health Enhancement", received the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1999 Exemplary Substance Abuse Prevention Program Award. Dessa is the author of several research articles including Patterns of Substance Abuse and Attrition Among First Year Students, published in the Journal of the First Year Experience.