Pills Becoming Popular Among College Students

Tuesday's Frat Boy News Pause for the Cause

Columbia University (compiled by WIBW)

The prescription drugs allegedly found in Al Gore III's possession this week are favorites among young people, according to drug abuse experts, who say prescription drugs may soon overtake street drugs in popularity.

"I wouldn't be surprised if right now at this point in time, there are more kids abusing prescription drugs than abusing marijuana," said Joseph A. Califano Jr., chairman and president of CASA, the National Center on Alcohol and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

Gore was arrested on charges of possessing -- in addition to marijuana -- Vicodin, Xanax, Valium and Adderall.

According to a CASA report, between 1993 and 2005 the proportion of college students abusing Vicodin and other opiods went up 343 percent, about 240,000 individuals. The numbers increased 450 percent, or by 170,000 students, for tranquilizers such as Xanax and Valium, and 93 percent, or 225,000 students, for stimulants, including Adderall.

Prescription drug abuse is particularly common among upper middle class students, according to Lisa Jack, a clinical psychologist at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

"It just goes to show that where you're from doesn't matter," Jack said.

And young people don't have to go far to get these drugs. "Prescription drugs are very easy for kids to get," Califano said. "They can get them from the Internet. They can get them from their parents' medicine cabinets. They can get them from their friends."

He said often students get them from friends who were prescribed these drugs legitimately.

"Kids sell them to each other," Jack said. "Drug trading happens all the time."

Frat Boy News Exclusive: College Students Taking the Term "Higher" Education Literally

The Frat Boy News Daily College Column
By Pat Connelly, Co-Editor of The Frat Boy News

Here's a stunner from a study at Columbia University - Nearly half of all 5.4 million full-time college students in the United States spend at least one weekend a month either binge drinking or using drugs.

A report published in Thursday's USA Today says Columbia scientists are starting to become worried for America's youth as substance abuse and alcohol abuse are becoming increasingly popular on college campuses.

Alcohol seems to be the substance of choice for most college students, but students are also using prescription pills and marijuana to get their monthly fix, the study says. The study, performed by Columbia's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, took a survey of some 2,000 students and 400 campus administrators to find the "shocking" results.

The study found that white students are more inclined to binge activities, and that 22.9 percent of college students meet the criteria for the medical definition of alcohol or drug dependence or abuse

"It's not on the radar screen of college presidents. This is not a priority," Joseph Califano said, the president of the study committee. "We believe they have an obligation to protect the health and safety of their students."

Students everywhere seem to be making their chosen "extra-curricular activities" a priority. What the study didn't examine though may be most crucial. Last I heard, collective GPAs of all college students were reportedly higher than they have ever been before. If students are getting their work done in the classroom, doesn't that entitle them to do what they wish in their free time?

Pat Connelly is the co-edior of The Frat Boy News and a 2006 alumnus of Washington and Jefferson College's Gamma chapter of Delta Tau Delta.