College-Age & Young Adults

• How does marijuana use affect your brain and body?
• Marijuana Research at NIDA
• NIDA's role in providing marijuana for research
• Health Effects

Changing Marijuana Laws and NIDA Research

Watch video (7:07)

Prescription Drug Abuse Research Report

• What is Prescription Drug Abuse
• DrugFacts: Cough and Cold Medicine Abuse
• Emerging Trends - "Sizzurp", "Purple Drank"
• Prescription Stimulants (Abuse) Health Effects
• Prescription Sedatives, sleeping pills*, or anxiolytics (Abuse) Health Effects
• Prescription Opioids (Abuse) Health Effects
• Over-the-counter Cough/Cold Medicines (Dextromethorphan or DMX) Health Effects

• Monitoring the Future (MTF)
  The MTF study measures drug, alcohol, and cigarette use and related attitudes among college students nationwide. Survey participants report their drug use behaviors across three time periods: lifetime, past year, and past month. The annual survey is funded by NIDA and conducted by the University of Michigan.

  2015

  • View Infographic
  • Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975-2015. Volume II: College students and adults ages 19-50 (PDF, 6MB) [Monitoringthefuture.org]
  • Marijuana use continues to rise among U.S. college students; use of narcotic drugs declines [Monitoringthefuture.org]

  2014

  • View Infographic
  • Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975-2014. Volume II: College students and adults ages 19-50 (PDF, 9MB) [Monitoringthefuture.org]
  • Daily marijuana use among U.S. college students highest since 1980 [Monitoringthefuture.org]
  • Drugs & Health Blog: Alcohol and Drug Use in College-Aged Young Adults: 2014 Monitoring the Future Survey Results

  2013

  • View Infographic
  • Monitoring the Future national survey results on Drug Use, 1975-2013: Volume II, college students and adults ages 19-55 (PDF, 7MB) [Monitoringthefuture.org]
  • College students' use of marijuana on the rise, some drugs declining [Monitoringthefuture.org]
• National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
  SAMHSA’s NSDUH (formerly called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse [NHSDA]) is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and consequences of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug use and abuse in the general U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population, age 12 and older.
• The Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS)
  The TEDS system includes records for approximately 1.5 million substance abuse treatment admissions annually. While TEDS does not represent all substance abuse treatment activities, it does comprise a significant proportion of all admissions to substance abuse treatment programs and includes those admissions that rely on public funds. Data are reported by sex, age, and race/ethnicity for each of 15 substance abuse categories. TEDS is maintained by the Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA.
• Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
  New Survey: Misuse and Abuse of Prescription Stimulants Becoming Normalized Behavior Among College Students, Young Adults.

• What to do if you have a problem with drugs:
  • For Teens and Young Adults
• What to do if someone you know has a problem with drugs:
  • Your Teen or Young Adult

• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) - The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIDA’s sister institute at the National institutes of Health, has many programs and initiatives related to alcohol use on college campuses and among other young adults. Since this population group often mixes alcohol and other drugs, the links below are invaluable to understanding substance use in this age group.
  
  • CollegeAIM—the College Alcohol Intervention Matrix
  • College Drinking Prevention Site
  • Alcohol and You: An Interactive Body
  • A Snapshot of Annual High-Risk College Drinking Consequences
  • Facts About Alcohol Poisoning
  • College Fact Sheet for Parents
  • Additional College Materials

• Is 4/20 an Event-Specific Marijuana Holiday? A Daily Diary Investigation of Marijuana Use and Consequences Among College Students, Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, By Adrian J. Bravo, Ph.D., Matthew R. Pearson, Ph.D., Bradley T. Conner, Ph.D., & Jamie E. Parnes, M.S., December 12, 2016
• Energy Drink Use Patterns Among Young Adults: Associations with Drunk Driving, PubMed (abstract), By Arria AM, Caldeira KM, Bugbee BA, Vincent KB, and O'Grady KE, September 27, 2016
• Bugbee, B.A., Caldeira, K.M., Soong, A.M., Vincent, K.B., Arria, A.M. (2016). Collegiate recovery programs: A win-win proposition for students and colleges. College Park, MD: Center on Young Adult Health and Development. Available at http://www.cls.umd.edu/docs/CRP.pdf (PDF, 139KB). doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.21549.08160 
• Maryland Collaborative to Reduce College Drinking and Related Problems. (2016). Sexual assault and alcohol: What the research evidence tells us (PDF, 131KB). College Park, MD: Center on Young Adult Health and Development.
• The Cannabis and College Student Love Affair, Beacon Transcript, By Clayton Meason, September 10, 2016
• College High: Students Are Using More Marijuana, Fewer Opioids, NPR, By Angus Chen, September 9, 2016
• Pot Use Rises on College Campuses, While Other Drug Use Declines: Study, NBC News,By Susan Donaldson James, September 8, 2016
• Colleges use sober dorms to combat opioid epidemic, PBS Newshour, By Teresa Wiltz, Stateline, June 15, 2016
• Drinking Like an Adult? Trajectories of Alcohol Use Patterns Before and After College Graduation, PubMed (abstract), By Arria AM, Caldeira KM, Allen HK, Vincent KB, Bugbee BA, and O'Grady KE, February 19, 2016
• Marijuana use trajectories during college predict health outcomes nine years post-matriculation, PubMed (abstract), By Arria AM, Caldeira KM, Bugbee BA, Vincent KB, and O'Grady KE, December 23, 2015

• American College Health Association: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs/Substance Use
  This page is an index of ACHA and other resources on this topic. Resources include association projects, programs, publications, guidelines, and more.
• Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR)
  The Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR), at the University of Maryland at College Park, is dedicated to addressing the problems substance abuse creates for individuals, families, and communities.
• The College Life Study at the Center on Young Adult Health and Development
  The College Life Study at the Center on Young Adult Health and Development is an NIH-funded project at the University of Maryland that aims to understand the health-related behaviors of young adults during a critical life transition.
• College Parents Matter
  Tools and scripts to improve communication with your college student.
• JED foundation’s U Lifeline
  ULifeline is a project of the Jed Foundation, a leading organization working to protect the emotional health of America's college students, and was developed with input from leading experts in mental health and higher education. ULifeline is an anonymous, confidential, online resource center - where college students can be comfortable searching for the information they need and want regarding emotional health.
• The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
  This national nonprofit research and policy organization is focused on improving the understanding, prevention, and treatment of substance use and addiction. They conduct and synthesize research, inform and guide the public, evaluate and improve health care, and analyze and recommend policies on substance use and addiction.
• Shatterproof
  Shatterproof is a national nonprofit dedicated to reducing the devastation that addiction to prescription drugs, illicit drugs, and alcohol causes to families.
• U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA): College Women’s Campaign
  FDA’s College Women’s Campaign provides information on health topics such as safe medication use, sleep problems, contact lens safety and birth control. Sample messages are also provided for student leaders and college health professionals to use in their outreach.