Data from surveys of students representing 100 diverse college campuses were used to investigate the difference between the self-reported frequency of a drug's use and students' perceptions of the frequency of use. Students were asked about the frequency of their own use of 11 drugs (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, sedatives, hallucinogens, opiates, inhalants, designer drugs, and steroids) and how often they thought "the average student" on their campus used these drugs. Respondents typically misperceived their peer norms (designated as the median of self-reported use) by substantially overestimating how often the average student used each drug, both in campus samples where abstinence or infrequent use were the median of self-reports and in samples where the median of self-reports revealed more frequent use. To the extent that they may promote or reinforce students' actual use, these misperceptions should be considered in designing college drug prevention programs.

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To assist universities in obtaining accurate information about the effectiveness of their efforts to prevent substance abuse, a committee of grantees of the US Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) developed an assessment tool known as the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey. This self-report instrument is designed to examine the nature, scope, and consequences of the use of alcohol and other drugs among college students. To date, the survey has been administered to nearly half a million students on 800 campuses, and the findings have been aggregated to create what is presently the largest national database on substance use in the higher education setting. The Core survey has often been used by campus health service personnel in assessment and programming efforts. This article describes the development and administration of the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey and provides a sampling of findings from the 1989-1991 FIPSE drug prevention group. This cohort included 58,625 students who completed the survey. Findings regarding consumption patterns, consequences of use, underage drinking, and regional differences are delineated, along with information regarding the future direction of Core survey projects.

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Results from administering the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey on 61 US campuses during the 1994/95 academic year were analyzed to assess weapon carrying among college students. Seven percent of the 26,225 students (11.1% of the men and 4.3% of the women) responded that they had carried weapons (gun, knife, etc) during the last 30 days. A comparison with a matched sample of nonweapon carriers revealed that a greater percentage of the armed than the unarmed students had experienced harassment, violence, and threats of violence, and that they felt less safe on their campuses. The weapon-carrying men consumed significantly more alcohol than their unarmed counterparts, and a higher percentage reported binge drinking, use of other drugs, and adverse consequences from substance abuse. Differences between armed and unarmed female students were not as clearly consistent in terms of substance abuse and consequences.