College students report that it is “very easy” or “easy” to score drugs, according to a new study of students who used drugs during college. Fewer than 5 percent said it is difficult for college kids to buy drugs.
Shockingly, 49 percent of students surveyed say they actually purchased these illegal substances on campus.
Moreover, the study did not include marijuana, what is thought to be the less addictive, and more readily accessible drug, due to its varying legality across states. Instead, the study looked only at the ease of access to cocaine, crack, ecstasy, heroin, LSD, mushrooms, Xanax, OxyContin, and methamphetamines.
Examining the monthly cost of drugs for students, researchers found that Florida State University had the highest average spending per month at $290, closely followed by California State University, Fullerton, at $261 and Florida International University at $253 per month.
Of the schools surveyed, the University of Georgia had the lowest reported student budget for illegal drugs, $27 per month, perhaps due to a stricter alcohol and drugs policy.
Shockingly, students are not only exchanging money for these substances: 14 percent of survey respondents also reported that they had slept with their drug dealer for drugs. About 43 percent of those who had sex with their dealer reported cocaine as their drug of choice, while 17 percent traded sex for opioids and 7 percent for ecstasy and Xanax.
Furthermore, the way in which students pay for school also appears to have a relationship with which drugs they buy.
Of those who reported using cocaine, nearly 37 percent had parents paying for college, compared with 31 percent paying for their own education, 26 percent on scholarship, and 23 percent using student loans. Of students paying for college with student loans, opiates were the drug of choice.
All of the drugs studied in this survey have been linked to causing detrimental functional and structural changes in the brain. Substance abuse is also proven to lower academic performance and college persistence.
Take 5 Media surveyed 1,082 students on behalf of the Florida House Experience, a mental health and addiction treatment center. The treatment center collaborates with various universities such as the University of Miami, Florida Atlantic University, and Florida International University.
Kate Hardiman is pursuing a master’s in education from Notre Dame University and teaches English and religion at a high school in Chicago.
