Kennedy S. (2018). Raising Awareness About Prescription and Stimulant Abuse in College Students Through On-Campus Community Involvement Projects. Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, 17(1), A50–A53.

Creighton University

The most commonly used substances by college students in the United States is reported to be alcohol, marijuana, psychedelic drugs, painkillers, and stimulants. Most of these substances become widely available to students upon entering college, and along with the independence creates an increase in use.

Substance Use in College

It is extremely common among college students to be consuming alcohol and participating in binge drinking.

Binge Drinking is defined as consuming 4 or more alcoholic beverages for women and five or more alcoholic beverages for men.

Alcohol Use with College Students

5% to 35% of college students use unprescribed Adderall while in their time at school. 20% of college students abuse prescription stimulants, including Adderall. 

Prescription Stimulants and College Students

44% of college students reported having used marijuana while in school. This number has been increasing since the 80s. Furthermore, 8% of college students reported to intake marijuana on a daily basis. Administration of marijuana has increases to with the use of vaping devices.

Marijuana Use in College Students

Although not considered to be classified as a substance use disorder, caffeine is the most commonly used psychoactive substance in the world, with 92% of college students consuming beverages with caffeine every day. Beverages can range from tea, coffee, energy drinks, and more. The average amount of caffeine consumed by that 92% is around 173mg.

Caffeine Use with College Students

Mahoney, C. R., Giles, G. E., Marriott, B. P., Judelson, D. A., Glickman, E. L., Geiselman, P. J., & Lieberman, H. R. (2019). Intake of caffeine from all sources and reasons for use by college students. Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland), 38(2), 668–675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2018.04.004

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