College Students Attitude Toward Marijuana Use on Campus

Among college students, the overall use of drugs has significantly declined due to many laws and regulations that are enforced on the UF campus. Tobacco and smoking is prohibited. However, drug use off campus is not eliminated and may still cause problems with student learning capabilities. The most significant and commonly used drug by college students is marijuana. “Daily marijuana use among college-aged young adults is at its highest since 1980, surpassing daily cigarette smoking for the first time in 2014” (College).

For first year students coming straight from high school, college life can either be very exciting or overwhelming depending on how well one prepares for it. Some have the notion that college is fun and is all about partying, while some believe that it is an environment in which they can achieve the ultimate freedom thus escape the stringent rules made by their parents at home. Others look forward to experiencing a different learning environment while being exposed to different cultures and sharing different academic knowledge. Successful assimilation into college life is determined by the student’s capability to transform into the new role of a college student. Numerous students face challenges they have never experienced before which can

Three decades from now, T.L.O., a student at a New Jersey High School was caught smoking in a school restroom, and was brought to the assistant principal’s office. The 14-years-old teenager denied smoking, so the assistant principal persisted in searching her purse and found cigarettes, and rolling paper which is associated with marijuana (T.L.O. vs. New Jersey). Nothing has changed since then. If you look a little closer, you can see teenagers lying around doing drugs here and there. They are no longer determined to succeed in life; instead all they can think about is where the next supply of cocaine will come from. What has our future come to? Research done by scientists and other professionals provide evidence that substance abuse by teenagers is an ever-growing problem due to teen’s poor judgement, it’s irreparable damage, and inability to compete with drug addiction.

A drug is a substance that alters the mind, body or both. Drug use is an increasing problem among teenagers in colleges today. Most drug use begins in the preteen and teenage years, the years most crucial in the maturation process (Shiromoto 5). During these years adolescents are faced with difficult tasks of discovering their self identity, clarifying their sexual roles, assenting independence, learning to cope with authority and searching for goals that would give their lives meaning. Drugs are readily available, adolescents are curious and venerable, and there is peer pressure to experiment, and there is a temptation to escape from conflicts. The use of drugs by teenagers is the result of a combination of factors such as peer

Colombo explains that “Beginning college can be disconcerting experience” (Colombo, p.1). That there will be more peer pressure from your peers and an increase expectations that you have never faced during your high

The transition from high school to college is a dynamic time in one’s life that parallels the change from childhood to adulthood. Both of these changes are dramatic and, as a result, feelings are difficult to put down into words. A messy combination of emotions fills the heart, surfacing in strange ways. Confident high school seniors go right back to the bottom of the chain when entering college as freshmen. These students start all over, just like entering grade school or high school for the first time. The move up from high school to college signals the switch from dependence to self-sufficiency. From a personal point of view, going through the experience of graduating high school and transferring to a residential college campus at STLCOP, made me realize I was no longer a kid and capable of making my own decisions.

College is a chance to be free and is a bridge between the real world and school. I’m an adult and expected to behave as such; I make my own choices where I have to decide what is important to me. I have an opportunity to learn how the world works, to explore the limitless possibilities and a chance to admire how vast knowledge can be. College will change my life in the way that I can develop life skills outside academics, to be fully

The University of Michigan “annually survey in 2010 ” identified that adolescents nationwide, will start using drugs from 8, 10, and 12-grade use drugs, which include alcohol, Tabaco, marijuana, and other drugs; the survey shows the increased of marijuana use among high school seniors to daily basis. Consumption is the highest in comparison with the previous study nearly 65% of those students use marijuana as their primary drug of choice.

Marijuana use among high school seniors in the United States has been on the rise causing greater concerns for addiction and health concerns among teenagers. According to the CDC, in 2010, marijuana use among high school seniors rose to 21.4%, with 25.2% being male users and 16.9% being female (Health, United States, 2011, 2011). This shows a steady increase every year starting in 2007 where 18.8% of high school seniors were using marijuana, with 22.3% were male and 15.0% were female. Ages as young as 12 years old also showed the same statistical trends, even in Middle Schools.

The transition from high school to college is not only an exciting and challenging time, but also a great milestone in one’s life. There are several differences between the lives of high school and college students. Some individuals will be able to jump right in and adjust to this change seamlessly, while others may take years to adapt, or never even grab hold of the whole college experience at all. High school and College are both educational grounds for a student to grow and enrich their lives with knowledge. Both are like puzzle pieces: on one side they fit together, but on the other side they are something completely

Among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, 9.8 % are estimated to be current users of illicit drugs, with 4.9 % using drugs other than marijuana. Nearly three quarters of students have started to drink alcohol and nearly half (47%) have tried using an illicit drug (not including alcohol or tobacco) by the senior year of high school.” (Hassan, Harris, Sherritt, Van Hook, & Brooks, 2009)

Many people, both teens and adults, fail to become aware what marijuana can do to a college student’s academic performance. Marijuana is most commonly used illegal drug in the United States of America. According to Dr. Calvin Carey of Baylor University, marijuana has been widespread all over universities in the United States for college students to take in. For a student who hopes to meet success in school, taking in marijuana is not a good idea.

Successful college experiences revolve around three major areas: the transition, being successful in classes/schoolwork, and involvement. These three areas have been determined from my work in the Housing and Residential Programs Department for the past three years, as this is my first lass focusing on student development theories. The three areas are must all be present in some way, shape, or form in order for success. The first step is the transition from high school to college. This is inclusive of moving away from home, and entering into an entirely different miniature society. Incoming students need to learn to adapt to their new surroundings, develop relationships, and a find their support system. Adaptation is important, for many

It has been discovered that most people who struggle with drug addiction began experimenting with drugs in their teens. Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy (Bauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives them.

As a college student, I am constantly experiencing new things and expanding my knowledge. College is a time of self discovery and growth. Staying up all night on finals week with multiple heavily caffeinated drinks, holding someone’s hair back as they drunkenly puke in the toilet, and living in a room the size of a closet with a complete stranger are just some of the many thresholds of college. Drug use has become just another part of this crazy college experience from binge drinking to smoking pot to taking psychedelic drugs just to see what happens. This idea of being young and invincible is fueling kids to make decisions their parents would not be happy with.