Edited by Martha Evans
Credit: Dominik Mecko
Higher education in the UK is notorious for one thing - constant, unrelenting partying. If you’ve attended a British university, it’s more than likely that you’ve come across recreational drugs of some sort during your time.
Historically, drug use amongst students has always been a problem, but we have seen a rapid increase in participation in illicit drug taking since social media has hit the scenes. Allegedly many university halls of residence have building-wide chat groups purely focused on obtaining drugs 24/7. This means as the way we interact with each other has advanced on social media, the availability and overall prevalence of recreational drugs.
Personally I was not surprised to read that my alumni, the University of the West of England, comes top for drug use among students in nearly every category. According to a recent study published by thetab.com a whopping three quarters of UWE students take drugs regularly. Many universities are not far behind.
Elite universities such as Oxbridge were firmly at the bottom with around 30% taking drugs. This divide could be interpreted as the more serious courses and prestigious universities have a better grip on the problem. However, it could also indicate certain socio-economic or even class factors playing a part in drug use trends.
If you’re lucky enough to attend a world renowned university, it is the expectation of many that you will come out with a high mark in your degree. Drugs and partying no doubt can have a damaging impact on grades, and it could be concluded that students at the top universities don’t want to diminish their chances of success after putting in so much effort to gain a place there.
This being said, are the stats correct?
One article from The London Economic claims to have interviewed an Oxford based drug dealer. The source says that demand at the prestigious university for cocaine in particular far outstrips supply, to the extent that the drug is being cut with potentially lethal foreign substances. Perhaps, given the incredible reputation at the university, students are simply stealthier and secretive about their use.
Less well ranked universities such as my own alumni maybe consists of a student body who have less severe consequences to bear in mind when engaging in drug taking behaviour, perhaps leading them to be more open about such things. Alternatively, a different study claimed only 11% of respondents to a survey had admitted to cocaine use, and 22% had taken MDMA at Oxford university.
For this article, I scoured tonnes of articles exploring drug use among students at elite and middle-lower ranking universities. All of them claimed wildly different statistics, making it very hard to gouge an actual impression of the problem that young students face and in turn ways to tackle and target the issue.
What is clear, however, is that this is an epidemic that isn’t going away anytime soon, and that universities should start to prioritise this problem. As long as the drugs are out there, the students will take them - whether they go to Cambridge or Coventry.
Historically, drug use amongst students has always been a problem, but we have seen a rapid increase in participation in illicit drug taking since social media has hit the scenes. Allegedly many university halls of residence have building-wide chat groups purely focused on obtaining drugs 24/7. This means as the way we interact with each other has advanced on social media, the availability and overall prevalence of recreational drugs.
Personally I was not surprised to read that my alumni, the University of the West of England, comes top for drug use among students in nearly every category. According to a recent study published by thetab.com a whopping three quarters of UWE students take drugs regularly. Many universities are not far behind.
Elite universities such as Oxbridge were firmly at the bottom with around 30% taking drugs. This divide could be interpreted as the more serious courses and prestigious universities have a better grip on the problem. However, it could also indicate certain socio-economic or even class factors playing a part in drug use trends.
If you’re lucky enough to attend a world renowned university, it is the expectation of many that you will come out with a high mark in your degree. Drugs and partying no doubt can have a damaging impact on grades, and it could be concluded that students at the top universities don’t want to diminish their chances of success after putting in so much effort to gain a place there.
This being said, are the stats correct?
One article from The London Economic claims to have interviewed an Oxford based drug dealer. The source says that demand at the prestigious university for cocaine in particular far outstrips supply, to the extent that the drug is being cut with potentially lethal foreign substances. Perhaps, given the incredible reputation at the university, students are simply stealthier and secretive about their use.
Less well ranked universities such as my own alumni maybe consists of a student body who have less severe consequences to bear in mind when engaging in drug taking behaviour, perhaps leading them to be more open about such things. Alternatively, a different study claimed only 11% of respondents to a survey had admitted to cocaine use, and 22% had taken MDMA at Oxford university.
For this article, I scoured tonnes of articles exploring drug use among students at elite and middle-lower ranking universities. All of them claimed wildly different statistics, making it very hard to gouge an actual impression of the problem that young students face and in turn ways to tackle and target the issue.
What is clear, however, is that this is an epidemic that isn’t going away anytime soon, and that universities should start to prioritise this problem. As long as the drugs are out there, the students will take them - whether they go to Cambridge or Coventry.
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