Study: College Kids Binge Drink More, Smoke Less Than Non-Campus Peers

The results are in from the most recent national survey on drug use among young adults. And, the findings reveal that college kids are binge drinking more than their peers who are not in school, but smoking cigarettes less.

The survey findings, which were published online this week in a report issued by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), helps to give healthcare practitioners a better understanding of the mindset college students are taking with them as they head back to college campuses this month.

"This is a good opportunity to assess the differences between full-time college students and people their age who are not in college so that we can better target prevention programming to young adults from all walks of life with vital information on substance use disorder prevention and treatment," says Fran Harding, director of SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

Researchers said that around one-third of young adults between the ages of 18 and 22 reported that they do not see a great risk in weekly binge drinking. One in five did not see a great risk in using heroin once or twice.

The survey also revealed the differences full-time college students have in their perception about recreational drug use versus young adults not in school. For example, full-time college students were less likely to see a risk from using cocaine once a month or trying heroin and LSD. However, they saw a great risk of harm in smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

Cigarettes and Drug Use

All of the survey respondents (ages 18-22) were asked to report their use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine, crack, LSD, and heroin in the previous month.

• 26.7% (about 5.9 million) smoked cigarettes
• 54.8% drank alcohol
• 35.3% engaged in binge drinking
• 20.7% used marijuana
• 1.4% used cocaine
• 0.1% used crack
• 0.3% used LSD,
• 0.2% used heroin

In the past month, full-time college students were more likely than their non-school attending peers to have:

• Consumed alcohol
• Engaged in binge drinking
• Used cocaine

They were less likely to have smoked cigarettes or used heroin. Both groups reported the same use of marijuana, crack, and LSD.

Perceptions About Risk of Harm

In addition to asking young adults about their drug use, the survey asked about their perceptions of their risk of harm from substance use and smoking cigarettes. Full-time college students were more likely to report risk of harm for:

• Heavy cigarette use (72.5% vs 62.7%)
• Daily binge drinking (63.9% vs 55.3%)

They were less likely to perceive a risk from:

• Monthly cocaine use (59.0% vs 64.3%)
• Trying heroin once or twice (76.6% vs 80.3%)
• Trying LSD once or twice (49.6% vs 58.0%)

Perceptions About Availability of Substances

Respondents were asked about their perceptions on the availability of substances. Many believed they could readily get their hands on drugs.

• 75.9% for marijuana
• 26.3% for cocaine
• 18.4% for LSD
• 18.3% for crack
• 14.0% for heroin

Full-time college students were more likely to perceive easy access to marijuana but less likely to perceive easy access to heroin. They were also less likely than their non-campus peers to have been propositioned by someone selling drugs in the past month.

To learn more about the study’s findings, you can read the entire report here.