Half of all full-time college students aged 18-22 report drinking in the past month. Of those, over a quarter report “binge drinking,” defined as consuming four to five drinks on one occasion.
Students who drink are at higher risk for academic problems, physical and sexual assault, and even death—most commonly from impaired driving accidents.
Student drinking can result in a negative campus climate. A campus culture of drinking affects even students who don’t drink, with incidents like loud parties, vandalism, and violence impacting their ability to live and learn in a safe, supportive environment.
Tobacco use was on the decline among college students for many years, due in part to IHEs limiting areas where students can smoke or banning smoking on campus altogether. However, with the recent popularity of electronic cigarettes/”vapes,” campuses are again seeing an uptick in the number of students who use tobacco products. In fact, a recent survey showed that of college students who used tobacco in the past three months, 78 percent used electronic cigarettes.
Some students come to college with established AOD use patterns. Many more start misusing AOD once they come to campus. Factors like unstructured free time, peer pressure, increased stress, lack of parental supervision, and AOD availability can all lead students to use substances.
The first few weeks of a college student’s first-year experience are a high-risk time for initiating AOD use. Students who are involved with athletics and fraternities and sororities are also more likely to use AOD than their peers.
AOD prevention on campus can and should take many forms. Decades of research shows that education-only campaigns do not have a significant impact on AOD use. IHEs should instead implement a range of strategies and programs that address individual student AOD use (e.g., motivational interviewing; behavioral interventions by trained professionals); the student body as a whole (e.g., social norms campaigns); and the entire campus and its surrounding community (e.g., working with local retailers to reduce alcohol availability, such as by banning happy hours and hosting responsible server training).
Elflein, J. (2023). Percent of U.S. college students reporting tobacco use as of fall 2022, by product. Statistica. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1126218/us-college-student-tobacco-use-by-product/
Kivlichan, A.E. & Lowe, D.J. E. (2022). Substance misuse in college students. Psychiatric Times. 39:5. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/substance-misuse-in-college-students
National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (updated 2023). Harmful and underage college drinking. Bethesda, MD: https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/college-drinking
Wang, T.W., et al. (2018). Smoke-free and tobacco-free policies in colleges and universities ― United States and territories, 2017. MMWR. 67(24). https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6724a4.htm
Welch, J.W., Shentu, Y., Sarvey, D.B. (2019). Substance use among college students. Focus. Am Psychiatr Publ. 17: 2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6527004/
