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What percentage of college kids are addicted to drugs and alcohol?
Here is a statistic for you. Of people 18 to 25 in college, over 55% admit to having used drugs and nearly 32% have used them as recently as within the past year (Office of National Drug Control Policy.) Although this statistic doesn’t answer the above question, it does shed some light on how many kids are using drugs in our nation’s colleges.
Drugs as well as the abundance of alcohol in college is a very real epidemic. In fact, drugs and alcohol are so prevalent that not knowing about them and their associated risks is serious health risk for this increasingly vulnerable age group. It’s important to know a few basic safety facts that will help you protect yourself and others in any situation where drug use and drinking is taking place.
So if you do decide to drink, here are some tips to stay safe:
Be in control of your beverage at all times. Never put your drink down and walk away. Date rape drugs can easily be put in a drink without you even noticing.
Don’t drive if you have been drinking and don’t ride with someone else who has been drinking.
Don’t play drinking games such as “beer pong”, “flip cup”, “power hour”, etc. People tend to drink just to get drunk while playing these games and end up consuming a lot more alcohol this way.
If you feel that you have a drinking problem or if your friends are commenting on your drinking, see a counselor for help.
Here are some other key points to consider:
First, understand that drugs and alcoholic beverages are in colleges everywhere. They are in the cafeteria. They are in the study rooms. They are in the library and in the locker rooms. They are everywhere because A LOT of our youth are using them for a multitude of reasons. They are everywhere and you might be surprised how they find their way into these places that they don’t belong. College dorms are like little first homes for young adults and for many, it’s the first time they get to be out of sight from their parents. Some of the things that they might have thought about trying, including experimenting with drugs, can now be done without having a mom or dad breathing down their neck to hand out consequences.
Second, drugs and alcohol, whether used together or alone continue to have the capability to kill you. College aged young adults are old enough to understand that using drugs and drinking is a health hazard. It doesn’t matter if they are regulated drugs (legal with prescription) or contraband. Drugs in any form, including alcohol can kill you and you don’t need to be addicted to have death be a reality from drug or alcohol use. By the time you have found the link to this blog and read it to this point, someone else in this country has died from a drug related incident.
Third, doing drugs is ILLEGAL. This not only makes it a crime to use but a hefty charge comes with possessing them as well. Kids go to college to learn and become educated about a certain subject matter in the hopes of graduating and getting a job related to their curriculum. Many smart kids have gone to college to earn an education and found themselves with something else they might not have thought about. A felony drug charge. Thanks to background checks, all those hours of studying won’t mean a thing to most employers. That job you wanted will be filled by someone else who doesn’t possess a felony.
Many young adults turn to drugs in college because they feel it helps them deal with their daily stresses. The stressors however of using drugs always outweigh the stressors of trying to fit in at school or trying to get an “A”. Drugs and the related consequences equal a life full of problems that are difficult to rebound from. There is help out there for you to avoid these problems all together. Counselors and others professionals right on campus are there to help you and most likely are a free resource to you. Utilize their expertise and allow them to help you through your challenges instead of turning to drugs for relief that will never come.
Using drugs and drinking has the potential to take away all of your hopes and dreams. An addiction to these substances can not only cost you a life full of misery and wasted time, but also your education, your friends, and your life. If you have the amazing chance to go to college, don’t throw it away for the sake of a quick high or buzz. Get help and overcome your struggles. Drugs and alcohol can kill you, but your education in college won’t. I choose the latter!
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About me: I am Super Star (yes, that is my legal name). I have earned that name – and accomplished what many people would consider impossible – because I chose to stay sober one day at a time. I left the crack houses to mingle with Hollywood’s elite, ending up working with all of my childhood musical heroes, and have now found my purpose in life after surviving an almost 15-year battle with the disease of addiction.
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