Male college students are more likely to commit property crimes and abuse substances than males of the same age not enrolled in universities, according to a new study from Bowling Green University.

For purposes of the study, "college student" was defined as a male enrolled in a four-year university program.

Peggy Giordano and Stephen Cernkovich, using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, examined information about 9,245 middle and high school students. The college-bound students had lower levels of criminal activity and substance abuse in grades 7 through 12 than the non-college-bound, but they did worse than the other group once they enrolled in universities.

Labels: boys, college_students, risky_behaviors

South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds has announced that September is "Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month." Several events are planned throughout the month, and recovery booths will be set up on college campuses throughout the state.

"This past year in South Dakota, 14,986 individuals sought recovery from some form of addiction. If an individual is interested in seeking recovery from alcoholism, drug addiction or gambling addiction, there are 61 providers across South Dakota to assist them in recovery."

Additional activities will include a "Fun Night" in the city of Mitchell for people who are recovering from alcohol or drug addiction. Source: State News Web

Drug Rehab Resources

Labels: addiction, college_students, recovery

An Associated Press analysis of government records found that alcohol poisonings among young adults doubled between 1999 and 2005, the last years for which statistics are available.

The study, which looked at college-aged adults, ages 18 to 23 years, found that more than 80 percent of victims were under age 21, and most were males. Death rates increased on weekends.

In 1999, 18 young people drank themselves to death, compared to 35 in 2005. In nearly every case, the person died when he or she was "sleeping it off." In 40 percent of the cases, there was a criminal investigation as to how the young adult was served too much alcohol.

One reason more young people are dying by alcohol poisoning may be the popular practice of having 21 alcoholic drinks on a person's 21st birthday.

Read "Beer Pong" and "21 Ritual" Can Be Deadly to learn more.

Labels: alcohol_abuse, binge_drinking, college_students

This weekend, the University of Virginia (UVa) will host APPLE – Athletic Prevention Programming and Leadership Education – a conference aimed at sharing the UVa substance abuse prevention model that was developed for athletic teams. Representatives from about 40 colleges and universities are expected to attend.

"[Co-director Susan] Bruce said she hopes those schools will then be able to follow the University's example to develop and implement their own substance abuse programs. 'One of the exciting things about the conference is that many of the attendees will be student-athletes,' Bruce said."

One of the keynote speakers at this year's conference, Travis Apgar, Associate Dean of Students at Cornell University, will discuss hazing and its detrimental effects on students' mental health.

Labels: athletics, college_students, prevention

According to a study conducted by the University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center, 10 percent of college use stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall illegally at some point. Typically used to treat ADHD, illegal use of these drugs jumped 20 percent between 2004 and 2005.

"'Most students who use their friend’s stimulants do it to improve performance,' said Scott Teitelbaum, M.D., medical director of the Florida Recovery Center at UF. 'It's like athletes taking steroids - the idea that you can study better, harder, longer, as if you were hitting a ball farther.'"

Students who abuse prescription drugs are often already behind in school, which is why they need to cram. Overall, their academic performance is worse than that of other students. Abuse of prescription drugs has increased sharply in the past several years, and is now more common that the uses of crack/cocaine, Ecstasy, heroin and methamphetamine combined.

Read more at News-Medical.net.

Labels: college_students, prescription_drugs, stimulants