Survey of designer drug prevalence among college students

College Students and Designer Drugs

This report examines the results of an independent survey that questioned just how prevalent designer drug use was on campus. Club drugs also known as designer drugs have hit the party scenes for many college students. These drugs became famous in the late 1990's because they were often taken at night clubs and parties called raves. Raves were popular because they were considered alcohol-free.

The media has since rumored that these new designer drugs were so big on campuses around the nation that they could be considered the latest campus fad. This report may not be able to verify if the media claims that all young adults away from home for the first time are prone to try designer drugs, but it can verify through sampling if the drug is a regular thing on campus. It seems outlandish considering that I am not a designer drug user and most likely never will be, but why wouldn't a student stressed by tests and boredom try a drug that appears to enhance one's senses by creating an illusion of self-confidence, energy and relaxation. I wonder if students care if these drugs are dangerous or that they cause long-term damage to neurons in the brain which eventually equates to brain-damage.

Well, if the media was correct and designer drugs have replaced alcohol, marijuana and cocaine as the drug of choice, this survey will help accept or reject the notion.

Survey Questionnaire

The survey questioned twenty five acquaintances through a survey questionnaire designed to discover how accurate the media was in regard to designer drug use. Of course this sample is relatively small but it would shed some light on percentages of students active with drugs.

The survey consisted of (See Appendix a) several questions pertaining to personal information such as ethnicity and age, grades, free time or work time and of course whether the person engaged in tobacco, drug or alcohol use.

Methods

The survey was handed out to several acquaintances. The survey did not ask for a name. The purpose was to stay anonymous and to protect the privacy of the participants. The survey was expected to be returned after it was completely filled out and I would simply calculate some statistics from the results.

Although not measurable in a sense of usage accuracy, question twelve simply asked students to write down the names of the types of drugs they would be or had already used to clarify drug use patterns between marijuana, cocaine and designer drugs like Ecstasy.

Results

My survey found that more of the college students engaged in alcohol and tobacco use than designer drug use. This stayed consistent with national studies. "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%." (Bergen, 2004)

Surprisingly there were more marijuana smokers than tobacco users and designer drug use was least prevalent. but, technically that concurred with national averages. "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." (Bergen, 2004)

The grades for most of the individuals were average B - C, but there was one exception that was surprising, the inhalant person had exceptional grades.

Tables and figures

Although there are no detailed tables and figures in a statistical sense, some assumptions could be made from the twenty five results. There were:

12 tobacco smokers designer drug users

Cocaine users

18 marijuana smokers

21 alcohol drinkers inhalant person (paint, glue, etc.)

Of the confirmed drug users there was a definite correlation between tobacco, alcohol and designer drugs. When designer drugs were a preferred choice, the individual also participated in the other vices. but, in regard to alcohol, there was only a direct correlation to tobacco. Alcohol users were most likely to do their thing more often than drug users and tobacco users were the most everyday users.

Discussion

The bottom line here is that although the media may not have the figures totally accurate compared to the results of this particular survey, it is surprising that drug use is so prevalent in our society. I was surprised how easily the students taking this survey divulged the information not even considering that they could be providing information to an under cover police officer or informant. Designer Drug users did not take into consideration how these drugs are made or the long -term effects on the brain. It did not seem to bother them that drugs like Ecstasy and LSD can be created in bathtubs, barns or some homemade lab so these drugs could be very dangerous to say the least. They simply did not think that they were doing anything wrong and that could be a serious issue for them in the future. Of course, the information was strictly for this report.

Although not a part of this survey, in future surveys I would ask those individual who are using or who have used drugs when they started. "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, 2004)