Pubdate: Thu, 02 Nov 2000
Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)
Copyright: 2000 Denver Publishing Co.
Contact:  400 W. Colfax, Denver, CO 80204
Website: http://www.denver-rmn.com/
Author: Julie Poppen

STATE COLLEGE POT SMOKING TOPS U.S. RATE

Use Of Amphetamines, Heroin, Hallucinogens Up 21%, Study Finds

The percentage of students at three major Colorado campuses who admit to 
using marijuana exceeds the national average, in one case more than twice 
as much.

According to recently released 1999 data, 34 percent of students at the 
University of Colorado said they used marijuana in the month before the 
survey, compared with 15.7 percent nationwide. At Colorado State 
University, 25 percent said they used pot the month before the study.

Use of other illicit drugs, including heroin, amphetamines and 
hallucinogens, increased by nearly 21 percent.

The national study was conducted by Harvard University's School of Public 
Health.

The results, which will be published in the November issue of the academic 
journal Addiction, found that college students are using more marijuana 
than they did in 1993. Between 1993 and 1999 overall marijuana use 
increased by 22 percent, according to the study.

"These new findings should be a source of concern for those involved with 
the prevention and treatment of illicit drug use among young people," study 
author Henry Wechsler said. "Although rates of drug use stabilized at the 
end of the decade, no significant decreases have yet been observed."

"The level of acceptance has been rekindled with marijuana," said Scott 
Case of CSU's counseling center.

Researchers suggest that the upswing in the use of pot and other illicit 
drugs on campus could be linked to a surge in drug use by middle and high 
school youths in the early 1990s. That finding was included in a separate 
study by the National Institutes of Health.

In the 1960s, drug use often started on campus and trickled down to younger 
populations, the authors noted.

Another factor is Colorado's status as a state with the most marijuana 
users. A recent study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
found that 8.1 percent of the state's residents admitted using the drug 
during a 30-day period last year.

The University of Denver didn't participate in the Harvard survey, but 
conducted its own poll last spring. In that study, DU found that 45.9 
percent of students admitted to using marijuana in the past year, and 26.4 
percent in the 30 days before the survey.

"Generally, small liberal arts colleges have higher levels of alcohol use 
and drug use," said Robert Granfield, DU associate professor of sociology.

As in all studies, false responses can cloud results even when the 
responses are anonymous.

"Fraternities or sororities, under the gun with regard to alcohol policy, 
may systematically lie to lower the rates," Granfield said.

But those lying about not doing drugs may balance out those who claim they 
did when they didn't, Granfield said.

The perception of rampant pot smoking on campus may also contribute to more 
students using the drug, Granfield said. More than 90 percent of DU 
undergraduates said they felt that most students use marijuana.

At Colorado School of Mines, officials said they sense that illegal drugs 
are becoming more of a problem, said Harold Cheuvront, vice president for 
student life and dean of students. Recent figures for the campus were not 
available.

Nationally, the number of students who said they used marijuana at some 
point in the 30 days before the survey rose from 12.9 percent in 1993 to 
15.7 percent in 1999, according to the Harvard study. The number of 
students who reported using marijuana in the year before the survey rose 
from 24 percent to 26.4 percent.

But not everyone is concerned.

"On the whole, it's not really something that is a perceived epidemic on 
campus," said CU student leader John Moore, a 22-year-old senior and 
sociology major.

Moore pointed out that today's business and political leaders came of age 
in an era when drug use was much more prevalent on campuses.

"I don't know that it had the most adverse effect on those folks."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D