Alcohol and Drugs in College Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Alcohol and Drugs in College - Research Paper Example Although leaders of institutions have a major role to curb the abuse that compromises student’s grades and leads to poor public health, they have solely left the responsibility to students. The paper discusses the extent of the problem, causes, and the solution to this problem. Statistics and Prevalence Unlike in the past, taking drugs and consumption of alcohols has become an acceptable culture in many colleges in America. After some years of struggling with the issue, deans and parents seem to have given up, empowering students to continue. Recent statistics reveals that 49.4% of fulltime students between the age 18-22 binge alcohol and abuse other illegal drugs. From a research done in the year 1993 and another done in 2005, levels of abuse have not changed greatly. However, cases of excessive drinking continue to escalate as students consume alcohol more frequently and o higher levels. The same researches reveal that more students have taken up to drugs with an alarming ra te of more than 100%. For instance, marijuana users have doubled, while heroin and cocaine users went up by 52%. Apparently, female students match up their male student counterparts in drinking although women have a bigger share in drinking. Men college students have a bigger share in illicit drug abuse with women more likely to become heavy smokers Many college students start drinking and abusing drugs in junior high school and in high school. They take in small portions because the environment restricts usage can lead to discontinuation if one is caught with this behaviour. On joining college, such students are happy to find an environment that fosters drug abuse and more so, gives the students the freedom to attend or not to attend lectures. Arguably, students who use drugs and alcohol in high school use them twice as often-on joining colleges. The first factor that accelerates this behaviour is that on joining colleges, students experience a wide range of demands on individual, interpersonal, leaving home, peer pressure, and making new friends. In the course of making new friends, they meet with their peers who use drugs and alcohol and get lured into drugs. At the college level, experimenting with illegal drugs is a normal occurrence and an accepted routine done by students ignoring the negative effects of drugs. (Blum 65-7 0). Some students consume alcohol to lessen the stress they go in the process of adapting or to correct some psychological problems they might have. The second cause of drug and alcohol abuse in colleges is genetics and family history. Casa survey found out that 70% of college students confessed that their parent’s expectations influence them on whether how much they drink or use drugs (CASA web). College students with proper upbringing stand against the testing times of their peers and the pressure from their age. In the current America, most parents are absent and do not have time to advice their kids on proper behaviour in school. In addition, they themselves consume a lot of alcohol, from the bars or at times in the house, playing an inspirational role to their college students. The role of parents in fostering abuse comes in where some parents give too much money to their children. Therefore, they have enough to feed on, cloth, pay hostel and buy expensive illegal drugs. Others do not question their children usage of money. They just send them money as and when their