Even new students don’t need to be told that college and
experimentation with drugs tend to come hand in hand. Whether they
are responding to peer pressure, attempting to seek relief from
stress, or satisfying their curiosities, at least a small
percentage of students from universities nationwide turn to drugs
and alcohol at some point in their college careers. For this
reason, UCLA students, doctors and health educators agree that it
is important for students to educate themselves about what they are
getting themselves into before they consider using substances.
“The good news is when we compare UCLA’s rate of
alcohol/substance abuse to other campuses, we come out
lower,” said Rena Orenstein, student affairs officer for the
Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center. Nearly one-third of
UCLA students are nondrinkers, she said, according to a recent
campus-wide survey from 2002.
Of the three general categories of drugs, hallucinogens tend to
be the most popular drugs used among young adults and college
students, said Dr. Larry Baraff, professor of Pediatrics and
Associate Director of Emergency Medicine. Drugs such as Ecstasy and
LSD cause brain cells to release naturally occurring chemicals that
transmit information from one cell to another, causing
hallucinations and distortions in perception.
But, Baraff said, the most dangerous drug ““ especially for
college students ““ is alcohol.
“Alcohol is the most dangerous drug in our society,
because it’s so prevalent,” Baraff said. “People
crave it, and use it every day. It’s very bad.”
A substantial proportion of the serious accidents that come into
UCLA’s ER are caused, at least indirectly, by alcohol, Baraff
said.
Falling out of second-story windows and getting into car
accidents while intoxicated are some of the causes of injuries,
with the latter making up a large portion of the motor accident
casualties brought to the ER each year. Out of 1,000 trauma
patients, more than half are due to motor accidents, Baraff said,
and a good number of those are caused by drunk driving.
Then there are the people who are directly suffering from
alcohol abuse.
“We see alcohol problems every day ““ people acutely
intoxicated with alcohol (who are) found by a citizen or the police
by the side of the road. … People come in very sick with alcohol
withdrawal, fever, shaking,” Baraff said.
Alcohol, a depressant or “downer,” works on
receptors at the ends of nerve cells in the brain, making it easier
for these receptors to welcome a naturally occurring chemical and
producing the overall effect of relaxing the body. This sometimes
induces what Baraff calls a sort of “self-medication for
psychological suffering” for everything from a break-up with
a girlfriend or boyfriend to the everyday stresses of class.
“I think students use alcohol because it makes you feel
really relaxed ““ it’s a way to take stress off your
mind after a hard week’s work,” said Rakesh
Raghuwanshi, a third-year economics major.
Orenstein concurs, “If we have somewhat lower levels of
alcohol/drug use than other places in the country, what we do have
equal levels of is stress!” Orenstein said.
Starting one’s first year of college can be particularly
stressful, Orenstein said, especially if one comes from a
culturally different background. “This is a huge transitional
time in people’s lives,” Orenstein said. “Alcohol
can be a good social lubricant, a way to fit in ““ a way to
self-medicate.”
But while alcohol is “certainly harmless in small
doses,” Baraff warns against heavy use, especially when
consumed in order to reduce emotional pain.
“It’s kind of stupid because there are so many
better drugs that you can get from a doctor that are more effective
(for combatting depression),” Baraff said.
The “magic number” of drinks, after which people
tend to do things that they later regret, is five, Orenstein said,
citing a recent survey from 2002.
“When we do survey research, the danger falls to people
who binge. That’s where you see missed classes, blackouts,
unwanted sexual practices, drinking and driving,” Orenstein
said.
And like most “downers,” alcohol is also physically
addicting, Baraff said.
Dr. Brian Armstrong, postdoctoral researcher in neurology and a
lecturer for the psychology department, explains that addiction
comes about through drug “tolerance,” in which a user
has to keep increasing the amount of the drug to get the same
effect.
Drugs upset the balance (or homeostasis) in the brain between
the chemicals that allow communication between brain cells and the
receptors that receive those chemicals; users therefore find they
need to continue the drug in order to keep their bodies in
homeostasis.
“The body develops a need for the drug; when it is used
repeatedly, and (when) it’s stopped, the patient goes through
withdrawal,” Baraff said.
Baraff explains that withdrawal is “a very uncomfortable
experience,” characterized by symptoms such as cold sweats,
shakes, vomiting, nausea and muscle cramps, all that can last two
weeks or more.
Long-term use of alcohol can also be devastating on the body,
Baraff said.
“Chronic drinkers have a terrible time at the end of
life,” Baraff said, citing weak hearts and decreased liver
and mental functioning as some of the potential side effects of
alcoholism. “It’s a pretty grim situation,” he
said.
“And for students on campus who are already alcoholics
(5-6 drinks a day), that’s the road they’re headed
on,” Baraff said.
“Obviously I wouldn’t tell people to stop drinking
completely,” Baraff said, “but to limit to one or two
drinks, once or twice per week.”
Although alcohol is the most widely abused drug on campus, it is
by no means the most dangerous as long as it is used in moderation,
Baraff said.
“The real dangers are with cocaine,” Baraff said.
“It’s the most dangerous drug by far. At first, the
user of the drug is feeling great; it’s a very euphoric agent
… (but) one use can kill you with a heart attack.”
A stimulant, or “upper,” cocaine affects chemicals
in the brain that transmit information between nerve cells,
blocking their reentry into the cells and allowing them to continue
to transmit information past the point when they would normally be
taken back up into the cell. This increases the user’s
alertness and energy, Baraff said, but it also causes the arteries
to spasm and the heart to pump faster, priming the victim for heart
failure.
“It’s a supply-demand problem; the body uses more
oxygen but there’s less available because of the constriction
of the arteries,” Baraff said.
Though cocaine use presents serious health problems, Baraff
admits that cases of serious cardiac cocaine problems are not as
prevalent near UCLA, with about five to 10 cases per year.
The Ashe Center’s most recent survey shows that less than
five percent of students admit to having used the more serious
drugs such as cocaine and heroin within the past year.
Even marijuana use among students is relatively low compared to
other universities across the country, Orenstein said, with 75
percent of survey respondents denying that they have used marijuana
within a year before the survey was taken.
Heroin is another drug that can produce serious consequences for
regular users, Baraff said.
In addition to being physically addicting, as an injected drug,
it is also highly psychologically addicting, as users learn to
associate injection with the immediate feeling of euphoria that
comes from putting the drug directly into the blood stream, Baraff
said.
While on heroin, “the person feels fabulous; when they are
no longer high, they want to get high again right away. People get
high three or four times a night,” Baraff said.
Another danger of taking drugs is that they can set off
psychoses that students may not even know they have, Armstrong
said, leaving them with a psychotic condition that they have to
live with the rest of their lives.
“If you have the propensity to be bipolar or
schizophrenic, these are really bad drugs to take. They can push
you if you have the propensity,” Armstrong said.
He describes the case of a girl who realized that she had an
inclination toward bipolar disorder ““ characterized by
episodes of profound mania and depression ““ after one
experience with cocaine put her into a manic episode that prevented
her from sleeping for days. “She was bipolar from then
on,” Armstrong said.
In addition to the physical consequences of drug use, there are
also social consequences to heavy drug use which students and
researchers alike recommend that people acknowledge. For example,
using illegal drugs, no matter how innocuous they may seem, can put
a permanent mark on a person’s career.
“Even if there are no adverse physical effects, if I get
caught or arrested … I couldn’t be a doctor if I had a
conviction for illegal drug use,” Baraff said.
“You can’t be a functioning, normal person and a
chronic drug user,” Baraff said.
Still, with regards to alcohol, students and doctors agree that
there is a difference between use and overuse.
“Everyone’s going to drink … It’s all about
just being safe, with yourself and with others,” said Brian
Chan, a fifth-year computer science, engineering and political
science student.
“Alcohol’s a part of college, period “”mdash; for a
lot of students, not all students,” said Scott Carter,
advisor for fraternities and sororities at the UCLA Center for
Student Programming.
Still, he notes that students in the Greek communities on campus
have been working to promote education among their members about
the effects of alcohol and drugs on one’s health, both
physical and mental.
Raghuwanshi, who is also philanthropy chairman for Zeta Beta
Tau, explains that some of UCLA’s fraternities and sororities
employ risk-management policies, including efforts to keep underage
people from crashing parties where alcohol is consumed.
But because alcohol consumption is so prevalent and such a part
of college life, enforcement becomes tougher.
“They try to balance reality ““ what they’re
going to do ““ with alternatives for how they can keep
themselves safe,” Carter said.
“If you’re proud of the fact that you got into UCLA,
you’ve got to make wise decisions because the stakes might be
higher here than they were in high school,” Carter said.
Orenstein advises students to seek help from the variety of
sources offered on campus, from Student Psychological Services to
the student health advocates, resident assistants and program
assistants in the residential halls. “There are resources to
help people to handle their issues without having to resort to
crazy drinking,” she said.
“Make sure you know the consequences of doing drugs and
drinking alcohol; if you don’t, you’re in for the
worst,” Raghuwanshi said. He advises students who are
struggling with addictions to confide in friends, expressing that
“the more open you are about it, the less trouble
you’ll have with your problems.”
Armstrong agrees: “Don’t do it. Be kind to your
brain; you’re going to need it later.”