Drugs in College

[Anonymous]

My brother started smoking pot. Then moved to alcohol.

He died at age 50 from alcoholism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My18 year old son is heading for College in the Fall and I'm worried about drug usage while away.

We have caught him a few times using marijuana, he was honest and told me. We were shocked, of course, and he was grounded each time. We've had many conversations about drugs/weed, but he thinks we're over reacting and thinks is not a big deal. We disagree.

Now that he's heading for college we hope he makes the right choices, but we're worried that with new freedom he will not.

From experiences, has drug usage affected your kids' college life? grades?

How to handle this? Just pray that he makes good choices?

It is scary. Partying freshman year did affect my daughter, a sports teammate turned her in (out of concern because there was evidently cocaine as well as alcohol) to her coach which resulted in having to drug test and go to counseling. We paid for anything and everything that we felt reinforced the idea of a balanced body/mind: massages, yoga classes, a therapist. I had my dd sign a FERPA and a HIPAA release form which made coordinating health care and grade checks possible. Ultimately, I think she just grew out of anything but light social drinking. Don’t be afraid to text and check-in regularly. They are really still children at 18, despite the protestations of many DCUM parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My18 year old son is heading for College in the Fall and I'm worried about drug usage while away.

We have caught him a few times using marijuana, he was honest and told me. We were shocked, of course, and he was grounded each time. We've had many conversations about drugs/weed, but he thinks we're over reacting and thinks is not a big deal. We disagree.

Now that he's heading for college we hope he makes the right choices, but we're worried that with new freedom he will not.

From experiences, has drug usage affected your kids' college life? grades?

How to handle this? Just pray that he makes good choices?

It is scary. Partying freshman year did affect my daughter, a sports teammate turned her in (out of concern because there was evidently cocaine as well as alcohol) to her coach which resulted in having to drug test and go to counseling. We paid for anything and everything that we felt reinforced the idea of a balanced body/mind: massages, yoga classes, a therapist. I had my dd sign a FERPA and a HIPAA release form which made coordinating health care and grade checks possible. Ultimately, I think she just grew out of anything but light social drinking. Don’t be afraid to text and check-in regularly. They are really still children at 18, despite the protestations of many DCUM parents.

This- have them sign the hipaa release and every other release and a health POA. Do before they go to college.

[Anonymous]

FFS being given date rape drugs involuntarily does not belong in a discussion of drug use at college any more than rape belongs in the same sentence as promiscuity.

[Anonymous]

He will use mj in college and it will be ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My18 year old son is heading for College in the Fall and I'm worried about drug usage while away.

We have caught him a few times using marijuana, he was honest and told me. We were shocked, of course, and he was grounded each time. We've had many conversations about drugs/weed, but he thinks we're over reacting and thinks is not a big deal. We disagree.

Now that he's heading for college we hope he makes the right choices, but we're worried that with new freedom he will not.

From experiences, has drug usage affected your kids' college life? grades?

How to handle this? Just pray that he makes good choices?

Continue to talk with him about how it is bad for developing brains. Grounding won't do anything except cause him to hide it. Accept that he may make choices you don't like in college and will experiment. You can't control him. There is no use in worrying.

[Anonymous]

Buy him a testing kit, a bulk of them. Better safe than sorry!

Even if they're never used, if they have any doubts they'll always have one on hand, and you'll probably save a classmate or two. I didn't use but my friends did and we went to pretty wild parties/music scenes and it was very common to test your stuff.

[Anonymous]

hi 26 year old who lurks on here bc sometimes there is tea LOL. but i can say drugs are everywhere but peer pressure doesn't really exist. i smoked weed in college everyday and honestly it didn't affect my life or academics. i graduated w a good gpa, got a 174 on my lsat that i took senior year while smoking everyday. i recently graduated law school and work in big law now. after undergrad i just stopped smoking? never felt the want again for it so you could say i'm 4 years sober hahaha. also i don't think weed is a gateway drug, i've never taken any other drug bc i have no interest. the kids who i know that did drugs and stuff were kind of predisposed to it? they were always willing to do whatever and didn't care. i would say talk to your son and see how he feels. once again peer pressure isn't real and i know my parents were worried about it. if i told my friends no to smoking or drinking they never pushed me and just left it alone

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents need to remove blinders and face reality. Drugs ARE EVERYWHERE on college campuses. Pot is the least of it. Molly, Coke, Shrooms. The best you can do is create an open, safe-enough environment where your kid will tell you what he is doing, has done this past weekend, plans to do at the festival, etc. For example, I know my DC has done Pot, Molly, Shrooms, but refuses to do any cocaine and absolutely will not inject anything. DC's friends tell me what they are up to too. Those same friends don't tell their parents who are clueless. DC knows from our discussions that they can call me anytime, any hour, they can call 911 and get an ambulance anytime, meaning don't be afraid that I'll find out from the insurance statement, just go get medical help and always be safe. If you aren't having these conversations with your kid, your kid will definitely be the 9 in 10 who keep it from the parents.

Careful…some of these psychedelics cause delusional thinking later in life. I would discourage all except pot. I agree it’s impossible for you to control, but they should know the dangers

Marijuana before age 25 increases risk of schizophrenia 1/3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My18 year old son is heading for College in the Fall and I'm worried about drug usage while away.

We have caught him a few times using marijuana, he was honest and told me. We were shocked, of course, and he was grounded each time. We've had many conversations about drugs/weed, but he thinks we're over reacting and thinks is not a big deal. We disagree.

Now that he's heading for college we hope he makes the right choices, but we're worried that with new freedom he will not.

From experiences, has drug usage affected your kids' college life? grades?

How to handle this? Just pray that he makes good choices?

"pray" LOL bible thumping stupidity

OP either you raised your student who will be an adult by freshman year 18 years old well or you did not.

If your kid will do drugs in college so much so that it ruins their life so be it. That is on them they are an adult.

You said your kid smokes pot a few times so what? Did you not talk to him about the dangers of drugs? Did you not provide him with an education about the dangers of drugs? Do you drink alcohol? Does your student?

JfC grow up learn to parent responsibly and for god's sake give your kid grace to be the adult you taught them to be. Oh wait you didn't did you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My18 year old son is heading for College in the Fall and I'm worried about drug usage while away.

We have caught him a few times using marijuana, he was honest and told me. We were shocked, of course, and he was grounded each time. We've had many conversations about drugs/weed, but he thinks we're over reacting and thinks is not a big deal. We disagree.

Now that he's heading for college we hope he makes the right choices, but we're worried that with new freedom he will not.

From experiences, has drug usage affected your kids' college life? grades?

How to handle this? Just pray that he makes good choices?

I hope it is not a school where drug use is common (though of course they can be found everywhere). Make sure he knows that weed is stronger now, and most of all try to educate him about the dangers of experimenting due to kids taking drugs they did not know contained fentanyl.

I would not just tell him. Show him media accounts of true stories of deaths.

[Anonymous]

PP’s are correct that at the end of the day a college student is beyond most levels of supervision.

The training on this subject like so many others needs to being very early.

1. Call drugs by their proper names. Marijuana or cannabis. Not “weed.” Psilocybin or hallucinogens, not “shrooms.” Cutesy labels deny the reality of what is going on.

2. Emphasize the inability (perhaps beyond self-grown marijuana) to have any certainty about what one is actually buying or ingesting. Particularly in the age of fentanyl this alone is a life-on-the-line issue.

3. Emphasize the unpredictability of both short and long term reaction to any given substance.

4. Emphasize the reality of addiction and its consequences.

5. Emphasize the future consequences as noted by a PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He will use mj in college and it will be ok.

I hate people who normalize it. It was not OK for so many children. A lot of them drop the college, a lot of became addict, a lot of them overdosed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents need to remove blinders and face reality. Drugs ARE EVERYWHERE on college campuses. Pot is the least of it. Molly, Coke, Shrooms. The best you can do is create an open, safe-enough environment where your kid will tell you what he is doing, has done this past weekend, plans to do at the festival, etc. For example, I know my DC has done Pot, Molly, Shrooms, but refuses to do any cocaine and absolutely will not inject anything. DC's friends tell me what they are up to too. Those same friends don't tell their parents who are clueless. DC knows from our discussions that they can call me anytime, any hour, they can call 911 and get an ambulance anytime, meaning don't be afraid that I'll find out from the insurance statement, just go get medical help and always be safe. If you aren't having these conversations with your kid, your kid will definitely be the 9 in 10 who keep it from the parents.

You seem to be justifying that your kid and their friends are doing illegal drugs. You can't honestly believe that all 20,000 kids at a given college are doing drugs. They aren't. A large crowd of them, but not even half. Statistics say 44% for pot.

those are all legal, and theraputic (sp?)

[Anonymous]

so my parents are not alone in thinking mj is worse than alcohol

-AC