A mixture of codeine cough syrup with alcohol and/or a soft drink known as "purple drank" has gained media attention in recent years as a drug associated with professional athletes and southern rap music. The existing research on purple drank consumption has primarily utilized samples of African Americans residing in the Houston, Texas area. This is the first scholarly study of purple drank use outside of the Houston, Texas area among a general population of young adults, and indicates that purple drank use is not limited to African American males. The findings depict higher odds of the use of purple drank among other racial and ethnic groups, males, and homosexual, bisexual, and transgender college students from urban areas.

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On April 16, 2007, a gunman attacked the Virginia Tech (VT) campus killing 32 people, wounding 17 others, and tearing at the social fabric of the community. The deadliest school shooting in American history quickly attracted the media. As journalists from every major domestic and foreign media outlet reported on the events of April 16 and its aftermath, the world saw images of and read stories about fragile individuals, a shocked and grief-stricken student body, and a community united in its grief. Yet the media did more than simply tell the story of the tragedy: it gave opinions on its cause, pondered its consequences, offered advice for recovering from the event, and speculated on how to prevent such events in the future. But, was the story told the same way across the various outlets or did the media source influence the coverage?

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