2008 Woodie Awards
Students' future up in smoke?
Shaun Logan
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: City Style
A random survey of 100 LBCC students taken late in the Spring semester, revealed that 71 percent had used marijuana, while 24 percent admitted to using cocaine.
Of the marijuana users, 26 percent acknowledged still smoking it regularly.
"It seemed that a lot of the people I surveyed smoked pot," said Chris VanderMolen, one of the students conducting the survey.
Although most other drugs were not as widely used, a small percentage of people used or abused the "hard" drugs. Also, 24 percent of those surveyed had tried cocaine with nine people out of those 24 still using more than 10 times per month.
Heroin showed the strongest potential for abuse and addiction. In addition, 8 percent of those surveyed had tried heroin with seven of those 8 still using more than 10 times per month.
While some people had tried other drugs (methamphetamine and crack cocaine) the rates of exposure to them were lower: 6 percent and 4 percent with no habitual users.
VanderMolen said the information was gathered from sociology and anthropology students and is not a measure of the LBCC student body as a whole.
Students were aware of people who use drugs, but most did not say many students at LBCC were addicts or abusers.
"Colleges will always have a few outsiders who may do drugs, but they'll always end up dropping out. A few people may smoke pot but none of them get good grades. All the real druggies are out in Venice or Downtown Los Angeles none of them go to school," said Charles Hellingson, a graphic design major at LBCC.
LBCC psychologist Katy Reynolds said Thursday, June 12, some students have histories of drug and alcohol abuse, with alcohol and methamphetamine being the most commonly abused.
She said most young people experiment, some deciding it is not for them early on. If their friends start to notice a problem, they need to call them on it, Reynolds said.
"The definition of drug or alcohol abuse is that it affects your life," Reynolds said.
Abuse can lead to broken lives, she added. Pain, tragedy, loss of job and high expenses can often result from drug or alcohol abuse, the she said.
Reynolds said she and other psychologists at LBCC, Esperanza Maldonado or Lee Niles, would be happy to help any student with his or her problems.
Reynolds said the best resources to control abuse include friends deterring friends from using through influence or intervention and sober living environments.
The No. 1 treatment nationwide is Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous and there are hundreds of local meetings conducted weekly.
Meetings for A.A. are offered at the PCC on Mondays at noon in EE152.
Of the marijuana users, 26 percent acknowledged still smoking it regularly.
"It seemed that a lot of the people I surveyed smoked pot," said Chris VanderMolen, one of the students conducting the survey.
Although most other drugs were not as widely used, a small percentage of people used or abused the "hard" drugs. Also, 24 percent of those surveyed had tried cocaine with nine people out of those 24 still using more than 10 times per month.
Heroin showed the strongest potential for abuse and addiction. In addition, 8 percent of those surveyed had tried heroin with seven of those 8 still using more than 10 times per month.
While some people had tried other drugs (methamphetamine and crack cocaine) the rates of exposure to them were lower: 6 percent and 4 percent with no habitual users.
VanderMolen said the information was gathered from sociology and anthropology students and is not a measure of the LBCC student body as a whole.
Students were aware of people who use drugs, but most did not say many students at LBCC were addicts or abusers.
"Colleges will always have a few outsiders who may do drugs, but they'll always end up dropping out. A few people may smoke pot but none of them get good grades. All the real druggies are out in Venice or Downtown Los Angeles none of them go to school," said Charles Hellingson, a graphic design major at LBCC.
LBCC psychologist Katy Reynolds said Thursday, June 12, some students have histories of drug and alcohol abuse, with alcohol and methamphetamine being the most commonly abused.
She said most young people experiment, some deciding it is not for them early on. If their friends start to notice a problem, they need to call them on it, Reynolds said.
"The definition of drug or alcohol abuse is that it affects your life," Reynolds said.
Abuse can lead to broken lives, she added. Pain, tragedy, loss of job and high expenses can often result from drug or alcohol abuse, the she said.
Reynolds said she and other psychologists at LBCC, Esperanza Maldonado or Lee Niles, would be happy to help any student with his or her problems.
Reynolds said the best resources to control abuse include friends deterring friends from using through influence or intervention and sober living environments.
The No. 1 treatment nationwide is Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous and there are hundreds of local meetings conducted weekly.
Meetings for A.A. are offered at the PCC on Mondays at noon in EE152.
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