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St. Cloud State University
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Commentary
SCSU drug use typical, say stats
Published:
Thursday, April 22, 2004
In the story that is in this issue of the Chronicle about drugs, statistics show that 2.2 percent of students at SCSU use marijuana every day, while students perceive that 24.9 percent are daily users.
To those who would say that these are unacceptable statistics, here are some from another school in the state, Mankato State University. According to their statistics, 3 percent of students use marijuana every day, while 19 percent are believed by students to be daily users.
Now, one must be an optimist when looking at this, for the fact that drugs are used at all might be disappointing or disturbing to some. But on the bright side: statistically, SCSU's drug use is no better or no worse than that at MSU, a school with a less "party hearty" reputation.
The Chronicle does not condone the use of illegal substances, and believes that even though the statistics might not be outrageous, students could still do better. How this could be done could be the subject of another, more expansive story, and the question could not be answered in a simple column.
Some may think that drugs are a part of the experimentation that is supposed to take place in college, but that doesn't change the fact that the use of illegal drugs can still get you in trouble. The statistics that Public Safety provided for the story illustrate this. Ten people were arrested last year for drug possession, compared to six people the year before that. Now, on a campus of 15,000 students, that could mean two things: either there aren't nearly as many drug users as we thought; or they just aren't getting caught. We would like to believe in the former.
Also addressed in the article were public service ads and the effect they seem to be having on their desired target audience. According to the information presented in the story, teens are more likely to believe in the harmful effects of marijuana now than they were five years ago. Unfortunately, over 69 million people over the age of 12 have tried marijuana - which shows that for every success an ad has, there are a few more who seem to ignore it and go on anyway.
The stigma that has surrounded marijuana use has decreased since our parents were our age. What used to be seen as something dangerous is now seen almost as a party favor, a way to kill a few hours and rise up with a clear head in the morning. While the medical research on the subject may be inconclusive, the fact remains that the drug itself is still quite illegal, and the punishments for possession or sale are still severe. For the college student, getting caught could ruin the chance they have to attend to college.
Now, the point about fairness of drug laws can be debated, but that's not the point.
The main point is that SCSU isn't any more abnormal than other schools in the state, despite a reputation that would imply otherwise. While we may not take pride in such a distinction, we must also realize that it could be much, much worse.
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