The Alcohol and Drugs
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The alcohol and drugs We take an in-depth look at ou’wester an American drink: whiskey. SDecember 3, 2008 e Weekly Student Newspaper of Rhodes College Vol. XCV. NO. 10 See Page 7 New campus Alcohol Task Force RX drug use low on radar By William Bruce “The Greeks do some alcohol education; there’s By NeNe Baff ord ing this academic year. Additionally, News Editor sanctioning issues that come out of the dean of stu- S t a ff W r i t e r we have had zero reports of illegal or A newly formed group on campus, the Alco- dent’s office, now we have the director of student e abuse of prescription drugs improper use of RX drugs this aca- hol Task Force, seeks to investigate the role alcohol conduct, and there is enforcement with campus safe- can create risks ranging from depen- demic year,” said John Blaisdell, Direc- plays on campus and to promote responsible and ty and RA’s. So it’s always been kind of piecemeal,” dence to death. At Rhodes, prescrip- tor of Campus Safety. safe use of alcohol. said Luther. “[The task force] is a way to bring folks tion drug abuse is not as common as e numbers of the 2007 CORE The task force recognizes the consumption of together. It’s a way to pull these people together and alcohol and marijuana use, but it does survey, which interviewed students alcohol as a complicated issue that deserves discus- start looking at these issues holistically.” occur. about their drug and alcohol use on sion and examination. The task force is currently in the process of de- “Prescription drugs are the not campus shows that prescription drugs “Let’s recognize that we have a problem here veloping its mission statement. most commonly used drug, but I are not popular on campus. and start talking about how to fix it,” said John “The main goal is to investigate alcohol and its think it does happen,” said Rob Dove, 1.5% of students who participated Blaisdell, director of campus security and a member role on campus, and to try to align that role it al- Director of the Counseling Center. in the survey said they used amphet- of the task force. “I think that’s part of what this ready plays with the role the campus wants it to “A much more common situation amines and 1.1% said they used seda- task force is trying to do and I think that goes back play,” said Aaron Fitzgerald (2010), a student mem- would be students that have ADD tives in a 30 day period. 51.8% said to what Dr. Troutt had to say about the Amethyst ber of the alcohol task force. “This could mean ad- take Adderall and because their friends that they have tried amphetamines initiative. Recognition that this is the problem.” hering to the state laws requiring you to be 21.” need to pull and all-nighter, they give once; only 0.7% said they used am- Marianne Luther, Director of Student Housing, One event that prompted increased activity of them one of their pills,” said Dove. phetamines more than three times a originally formed the task force. the task force was the Amethyst initiative which Although the use of prescriptions week, and 0.2% said they used seda- “All told, no matter what point of the year, over President Troutt signed onto earlier in the year. drugs does exist on campus, it is hard tives more than three times a week. half of our students are under 21,” said Luther. “So The initiative was created to promote discussion to track because students do not have Students do not feel as though in terms of looking at that, how do we properly ad- about the current drinking age of 21. to tell if they visit the Health Center prescription drug abuse is a problem dress an issue that a lot of students are making deci- “The alcohol task force organized a discussion on campus. either. sions about when it’s illegal behavior.” with students, and we then sent the results to Presi- “I don’t know how many people “I’ve never heard anything about In the past semester, the task force has grown to dent Troutt,” said Fitzgerald. have prescriptions because they don’t it being abused on campus, I’ve heard incorporate faculty and staff from different depart- The group currently meets once a week to dis- have to tell me and a lot of people don’t things in high school, but not since I ments, as well as several students. The intention has cuss its proceedings. want anyone to know,” said Patty Ster- have been here,” said Freshman Erin been to better organize the groups who deal with “There’s a lot that can be done with this group,” ba, Director of the Health Center. Dressel. alcohol related issues. said Fitzgerald. “At one time, our doctors did pre- Although these drugs are not fre- scribe medicines such as Adderall and quently used on campus, they can cre- Ritalin, but we found that students ate risks. were receiving it from us and from “One risks associated with the use Findings from the 2007 Core home,” said Sterba. of Adderall and Ritalin is it increases Rhodes has not had any problems blood pressure,” said Sterba. Alcohol and Drug Survey with prescriptions drugs on campus, “ e particular danger with Xa- such as drugs coming up missing from nax is that it is extremely addictive, one students’ rooms or any reports of pre- can’t predict how it will interact with is information was gathered in 2007 through an online survey of Rhodes students. 554 students completed the survey, scription drug abuse. alcohol, and it’s easy to overdose,” said with 65.7% of them female and 34.3% male. Findings “We have had zero reports of RX Dove. drugs being stolen from students dur- Findings onFindings alcohol use Interview with “Q” a stu- Percentage of underage students (younger than 21) who consumed alcohol 62.70% dent who sells marijuana in the previous 30 days Interview conducted by Daniel Jacobs Editor-in-Chief DJ: Why did you start selling marijuana? Percentage of all students who Q: People would always know I could fi nd it. And freshman year I 69.60% consumed alcohol in the past 30 days was like, well people call me all the time and I spend a lot of time going to get it, so I decided it was easier to always have some and sell it. It was a convenience thing. ese kids at Rhodes are really in a bubble. ey’re not going to go out in the ghetto to get weed, they’re going to ask some- Percentage of students who consumed one they know. Once they know you can get weed they’ll be hitting 81.10% alcohol in the past year you up when they need weed. ere are a lot of people who dabble with selling pot. It’s what people do in college. And eventually you get bored of being hassled and then you’re like, okay I’m done with it. DJ: How many people do you sell to in a month? Q: Approximately 50 people a month. DJ: How many diff erent people have you sold to? Q: I’ve sold to about 300 or 400 diff erent people. It’s crazy, a lot of See page 4 for more results from the CORE survey, and page 5 people at Rhodes smoke pot. DJ: How much do you sell in a month? for a timeline of drug and alcohol policies on campus. Q: I sell at least an ounce a day, and probably about couple pounds a Interview, continued on Page 4 Page 2 Opinion Wednesday, December 3, 2008 Why the War on Drugs has failed us The By Paul Yacoubian and Kevin Kifer pression. Many depressed people are forced to tims of chemical dependency, but rather that Sou’wester Opinion Editor and Staff Writer resort to prescription drugs such as, Effexor, they need help. An arresting officer, a criminal In the Drug War, addiction should be ene- which become addictive as the people even- record, and expulsion from school is not the Editor-In-Chief my number one. Yes, some drugs are addictive tually only receive the benefits of not having type of help I am talking about. I would ar- Daniel Jacobs and can really mess you up, i.e. heroin, meth, withdrawal once they stop taking the drug. gue that those events hinder a person’s ability Managing Editor cocaine, etc. However, the most popularly ad- While the case to legalize marijuana usage is to achieve freedom from dependency through Avery Pribila dictive drugs are food, prescription medica- obviously valid and will ultimately prevail, thorough drug rehabilitation and social meet- News Editor tions, alcohol, and these illegal substances to many people still have reservations about legal- ings. The freedom to combat dependency William Bruce a lesser extent. Surprisingly, marijuana is not izing harder drugs. should be the only goal of our efforts, and until Opinion Editor addictive and the jury is not still out on that Without question, most Americans want it is, I will call the War on Drugs a failure. Paul Yacoubian one. to see chemical dependency rates fall, whether Entertainment Editor The only thing harmful about marijuana this includes tobacco use, binge-eating, alco- Quick Facts and Bonus Analysis Ralph MacDonald is the stigma associated with its persecution. holism, prescription drug addiction, or illegal Proponents of the current drug policy may Sports Editor While thirty million Americans enjoy the drug addiction.