Trends in Marijuana and Other Illicit Drug Use Among College Students: Results From 4 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study Surveys: 1993–2001

Abstract

The authors examined changes in college students' illicit drug use, patterns of polydrug use, and the relationship between students' ages of initiation of substance use and later use of marijuana and other illicit drugs between 1993 and 2001. Data from 119 US colleges and universities in the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study were used in the study. They found significant increases in percentages of students' use of marijuana in the past 30 days (from 13% to 17%), past year (from 23% to 30%), and lifetime (from 41% to 47%) between 1993 and 2001, with most of the increase occurring between 1993 and 1997. Past 30-day use of other illicit drugs increased from 4% to 7% and past year use increased from 11% to 14%. More than 98% of marijuana and other illicit drug users used another substance. They also either smoked, were binge drinkers, and/or were users of another illicit drug. Drug prevention programs should emphasize heavy alcohol use and smoking and should start when students are in high school or earlier.

Profile of simultaneous poly-substance users of undergraduate students at one university, Kingston - Jamaica

“…2 In a Rio de Janeiro/Brazil university, it was discovered from a survey, that the mean age of first use for substances among medical students was 16.6% for tobacco and 15.9 years of age for alcohol ; corroborating with findings from other studies indicating that the ages of initiated use is occurring at younger ages. [2][3] This is disturbing as the use of substances during adolescence is said to be a strong indication that users will progress to a lifetime of substance dependence which is usually associated with high risk behaviours such as violence, school failure and depression. 2 Students who experiment with alcohol and drugs before entering college may also be more likely to engage in social and recreational activities where these substances are present.…”

“…[2][3] This is disturbing as the use of substances during adolescence is said to be a strong indication that users will progress to a lifetime of substance dependence which is usually associated with high risk behaviours such as violence, school failure and depression. 2 Students who experiment with alcohol and drugs before entering college may also be more likely to engage in social and recreational activities where these substances are present. Therefore, programmes to be implemented in order to prevent, erased or lessen substance misuse, need to focus on activities which counter alcohol and substance use.…”

Sources of prescription drugs for illicit use

“…The present study identified 18 possible sources of prescription drugs among undergraduate students and these sources can be used in future research. Based on the increasing rates of illicit prescription drug use among adolescents and young adults, it is imperative that future research carefully examine how these individuals are obtaining prescription medication for illicit use (Johnston et al, 2003;Mohler-Kuo et al, 2003).…”

“…There is growing evidence that the illicit use of prescription drugs has been increasing in the past decade among U.S. undergraduate college students and is second only to marijuana as the most common form of illicit drug use (e.g., Johnston, O'Malley, & Bachman, 2003;Mohler-Kuo, Lee, & Wechsler, 2003).…”

Substance use outcomes 5½ years past baseline for partnership-based, family-school preventive interventions

“…Among the more serious types of substance use, poly-substance use (i.e., the use of different substances on the same or different occasions- Toumbourou and Catalano, 2005), is particularly important to consider. Adolescent poly-substance use is associated with a number of problematic outcomes, such as adverse psychological and social consequences, particularly for girls (Lex, 1995;Overman et al, 2004), increased delinquent acts for boys (Mason and Windle, 2002), an increased likelihood of developing substance abuse and other mental health problems in adulthood (Newcomb and Felix-Ortiz, 1992;Toumbourou and Catalano, 2005), lower levels of adolescent achievement motivation and adult job-related problems (Mohler-Kuo et al, 2003;Stein et al, 1993), accidental death due to drug overdose (Coffin et al, 2003), suicide (Midanik et al, 2007), high-risk sexual behaviors (Midanik et al, 2007), and substance-related accidents in adulthood .…”