DRUG USE IN COLLEGES 1 Drug and Substance Abuse among College Students Savior C Wright University of the Rockies DRUG USE IN COLLEGE 2 Drug and Substance Abuse among College Students While a significant number of people love higher education because of the career value they derive from it, everyone can relate to the fact that it is eventually life altering. Notably, apart from being defined by the diversity they present, colleges are also identified by parties and drug use. Almost every college student has indulged in one type of drug or the other. The freedom presented by reaching adulthood combines with the brashness of teenage and youth to reveal a life of reckless behavior and poor decisions. Drugs receive a lot of attention since their consumption affects the ability to perform well in academics, aside from affecting the quality of life led. Recognizing the factors promoting drug and substance abuse and the potential effects they have on students can help in formulating strategies to reduce their influence. The significance of drug and substance use on youth in institutions of higher learning is advanced by the fact that it has a global prevalence. For instance, a study conducted at the Wolaita Sodo University in Ethiopia by Mekonen et al. (2017) revealed that a large number of university students used drugs with alcohol and marijuana being the most common. Similarly, a study conducted in an unnamed university in the U.S. by Love-Quick (2016) revealed the same trend. It was noted that students either actively used drugs or knew friends who frequently indulged themselves. In either instance, it was observed that this behavior led to issues relating to academic performance and general quality of life led. It is often argued that this period in life is defined by being experimental and open to making mistakes and correcting them. However, when such mistakes can lead to lifelong illnesses or regrettably bad decisions, the whole concept of life lesson is becoming questionable. Rarely do studies capture the problems left in the aftermath of this youthful craze. Instead, the focus remains on the resolving the current issue as opposed to tackling the ripple effect that trickles down to future generations. By ignoring the culture that is borne of drug and DRUG USE IN COLLEGE 3 substance use, a loophole is created where the next freshmen will become patrons of drug and substance abuse. Eventually, every hormone-crazed teenager tasting actual freedom for the first time will want to experiment with this campus lifestyle that is aggressively promoted. Observably, there is urgency in developing a guidance system that offers this population a better path. Understanding the culture of drug and substance use in colleges and universities would make it possible to remove the risk it attaches to these institutions. Authors & Date Palmer, R. S., McMahon, T. J., Moreggi, D. I., Rounsaville, B. J. and Ball, S. A. (2012). Methodology Survey Questionnaire Love-Quick, S. L. (2016). Survey- Core Alcohol and Drug Survey Makonen, T., Fekadu, W., Makonen, T. C. and Workie, S. B. (2017). Questionnaires Kelsch, A. A. D. (2013). Survey Methods Used • Addiction severity Index • Drug Use Consequence Scale • Key Findings • Marijuana was the most prevalent illicit drug consumed • Drug use resulted in various negative consequences • Students were not concerned over their drug use, especially marijuana • Very few students reported a need for intervention • Pearson’s • Students that were aware of correlation campus policy on drugs were analysis more likely to consume them. • Analysis of • Students that did not take part Variance in volunteering initiatives were more likely to engage in • Conveniencedrug use. quota sampling • Drug use was related to their plan availability at parties • Pearson’s • Drug use, especially alcohol Correlation and tobacco and what, was prevalent in the university. • T-test with the respective • Drug use resulted in lower P value academic performance. • Students with a friend who were frequent drug users had lower academic performance. Alcohol Use • It was easier to identify Disorders students with a drinking Identification Test problem and could be provided with the necessary guidance. • Implementing alcohol screening practices would be a good foundation for DRUG USE IN COLLEGE Riley-Cook, K. (2012). Survey 4 Regression analysis • • • facilitating intervention programs Friends played an important role in shaping a student’s drinking habits. Younger students are more likely to binge. Hirschi’s theory could not explain students’ tendencies to engage in deviant behavior. References Kelsch, A. A. D. (2013). Screening and brief interventions for alcohol use in college students. Dissertation DRUG USE IN COLLEGE 5 Love-Quick, S. L. (2016). The relationship of students’ awareness of drug policy, procedures, and intervention programs to the drug and alcohol use on college campuses: A correlation study. ProQuest. 1024846. Makonen, T., Fekadu, W., Makonen, T. C. and Workie, S. B. (2017). Substance use as a strong predictor of poor academic achievement among university students. Psychiatric Journal, 7517450. Palmer, R. S., McMahon, T. J., Moreggi, D. I., Rounsaville, B. J. And Ball, S. A. (2012). College Student Drug Use: Patterns, concerns, consequences and interest in intervention. Journal of College Studies and Development, 53(1). Riley-Cook, K. (2012). Binge drinking and drug use among college students: A test of Hirschi's Social Control Theory. Master’s Theses. 167. 1 Running head: ANALYZING INTERVIEW DATA Analyzing Interview Data Savior C Wright University of the Rockies 2 ANALYZING INTERVIEW DATA The interview focused on substances that result in students abusing drugs. One of the responses in that interview was that most of the students abuse drugs due to peer pressure. When students are enrolled in various learning institutions, they are likely to affect a lot of peer pressures from other senior’s students. It is reported that in some schools, such matters of peer pressures are portrayed as a culture that is passed from one class to another. Based on the reports 45% of the students who join those learning institutions might not be aware of the ways of preventing themselves from joining such types of groups. They might believe that the best ways of serving in those schools are part of those groups. In that case, when the grouse members introduce the use of drugs, such students might fail to protect themselves from using them. It is also noted that poor parental might be another reason that leads to students abusing drugs. Some parents believe that the only way to make their children happy is to allow them to do anything they want. In that case, the children tend to grow believing that they can be able to behave in any way without facing any consequences. As such, it is very easy for those children to get into using drugs. Most of the interview questions used on the effects that those drugs had on the victims. Also, it was important to understand the number of students that were able to recover from being addicts of such drugs. To understand those measures, it is important to code data that would explain such matters. The interview was conducted on two people who were believed to be drug addicts, but they were able to recover from it. The information portrayed by one of the people was that he was introducing do drugs by his friends. It did not take long before he could hardly perform without using such type of drugs. One of the drugs that were mostly sued was marijuana. Based on that person, most of the people in the school tend to use marijuana because it is easily available. Unlike another type of drugs, marijuana can be obtained from the local dealer at a much lower price compared to others. In that way, they assume that since it has the same effect as other drugs, they 3 ANALYZING INTERVIEW DATA should maximize on using it. To analyses such type of information, it is important to use a method that would include both the effects and the usage records. In most of the medical reports, such type of information is analyses depending on the location as well as the number of people affected. One of the factors that make the use of coding a better method of analyzing data is the fact that the information cannot be easily manipulated. Furthermore, it is early for any person to interpret such type of information. In the past, many people used to find it difficult to interpret such type of data due to various reasons. For example, most of the people were not very literate when it comes to computer matters. Also, it was believed that by using data codes, it might be used to represent some items. One of the ways that I performed the analyzing regarding the number of students abusing drugs was through the use of qualitative designs. In that case, I used different techniques for collecting data which include the use of a questionnaire, interviews and also surveys. Since the case study was a group of students, the use of interviews was considered to be the best method. It focused on particular students and included some of the basic factors that could have resulted in them using drugs. According to the information, the use of interviews enables both the responder and the response to differentiate different ways that could better that interview process. For example, the type of questions asked could be changed to accommodate new questions that would focus on the matter at hand. The use of survey was another method of conducting the analysis. In most cases, surveys are sued to analyze data from a large group of people. Reports indicate that 5% of the students are either a drug addict or using drugs for various reasons. Since this number is huge, the use of survey will ensure that will depend on the best method of analyzing that information. Another way is the use of coding. With the increased level of technology, the use of codes has been considered to be one of the most effective methods of analyzing data. One of the 4 ANALYZING INTERVIEW DATA ways of using codes is to indicate the number of people who are likely to be affected by those substances. In recent years, new methods of coding could be enhanced through the use of computers. The use of computers to develop such coding is considered to be much effective since the user will only need to understand a certain type of information and present it to the computer in which it will generate its data. To understand how the effect of drugs on the user, it was important to develop data codes. The data codes would be analyzed depending on the type of drug used. To understand such measures better, every drug should have it data codes which would be entered into the system. Also, the codes would be analyzed regarding how it affects that user. What is more, the codes of the drug should include the number of users that have been affected by it over a certain period. It is important to include all the information in the computer system to analyze it also to use it as a reference in the future. The use of coding for analyzing data can differ depending on the drug. To ensure that only correct information is included in the data table, it is important to develop a chart that would show the segment of each drug. It is believed that it is much easier to read data that is recorded on the graphs. Some people find it difficult to read any data that is presented in the coding form. However, with the increased level of technology, such type of data codes could easily be changed into wording making the user understand it better. Also, it is not easy to change those types of codes since it would be reflected in the result. Since all drugs have its codes, it cannot be manipulated to serve the interest of the researcher. What is more, it allows comparison of data from one interview to another. List of codes 5 ANALYZING INTERVIEW DATA Codes names Number of users 1324:5 Marijuana 34% 343:32 Cocaine 3% 344:67 methane 1% Based on the information portrayed in that chart, it shows that the majority of the students are using marijuana compared to other types of available drugs. This is because the drug can be easily obtained and it is much compared to other types of drugs. Another reason that was established from the interview is that the effect of marijuana is minimal compared to other types of drugs. In that way, most of the students would prefer using it has it has no major side effects. Cocaine is the second sued type of drug as shown in the chart. 3% of the students tend to sue it as it is considered to be very expensive. Also, based on the available reports, the drug is highly addictive. Methane is the least used drug due to its scarcity. Running head: HOW TO FORMAT A PAPER How to Format a Paper in APA Style Student Name University of the Rockies 1 HOW TO FORMAT A PAPER 2 Abstract Your professor may require an Abstract, which should appear on the second page with the label centered and not bolded. The Abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of the article; it allows readers to survey the contents of an article quickly. Most scholarly journals require an abstract. The Abstract is the only part of an APA document where the first paragraph is not indented. The Abstract is usually only one paragraph in length and should not exceed 250 words. Ask your instructor if your Abstract is allowed to be longer. HOW TO FORMAT A PAPER 3 How to Format a Paper in APA Style Your college papers here at University of the Rockies will all be formatted the same way. Once you learn the correct format, you will not have to worry about how to prepare your written assignments. It is important to learn American Psychological Association (APA) writing guidelines because all University of the Rockies assignments must be formatted in APA style. While there may be a variety of sources from which you receive advice about APA formatting, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition), printed October 2009 or later, is the most accurate source for proper APA formatting. Unfortunately, the first printing of the sixth edition had many errors, so check the copyright page to make sure it says “Second printing” or later. This brief sample paper shows you how APA style looks when applied to a written assignment and can be used as a Microsoft Word template for you to format your own papers. General Formatting Information Set the margins of your document to be one inch on each side—top, bottom, left, and right. Double space all the lines in your document with no extra space between paragraphs or before or after headings. Left justify the paragraphs and leave the right side of your text ragged. Most paragraphs will have the first line indented by .5 inches. Use the Microsoft Word paragraph formatting tool to set your paragraph spacing. Make sure that Line Spacing is set to “Double” and that “Spacing” is set to 0 pt for both “Before” and “After.” There are separate considerations for different parts of your paper: the title page, the abstract, the first and subsequent pages of text, and the references pages. Directions for formatting the abstract are written in the abstract for this sample paper (see above). Directions for formatting the other parts of your paper are written in the following sections. HOW TO FORMAT A PAPER 4 Title Page Note the format of page 1, the title page. It includes the title of the paper, your name, and University of the Rockies. Check with your instructor whether additional information, such as a date or assignment number, is allowed or desired. In the header of the first page, the title page, place the words “Running head:” followed by a shortened version of your title in capital letters. On subsequent pages, put that same shortened version of your paper’s title in caps, but without the “Running head:” designation. You will have to use the Microsoft Word Header and Footer tool and check “Different First Page” to get a unique header on the title page. Body of Paper The body of your paper starts on page 3 (or page 2 if an abstract is not included). Please note that the full title of the paper that appears on the title page is repeated on a centered line just before beginning the body of the paper and is not bolded and is not repeated on subsequent pages. The following (sub)sections describe other formatting considerations within the body of the paper. Page header. Every page must be numbered in the upper right corner and must include a page header in the upper left corner that is a shortened title of the paper, in capital letters. The header is the same for all pages in your paper, including the abstract and reference pages, except for page 1, the title page. How to format headings. Note that this paper formats headings as noted in Table 3.1 of the APA Publication manual (American Psychological Organization, 2010). In general, papers are divided into sections and subsections. There are five levels of headings whose format is specified, but it is very unusual to use more than two or three levels of heading. Level 1 heading HOW TO FORMAT A PAPER 5 is the highest level and should be the first heading used in a paper. In this paper, General Formatting Information and Crediting Sources are Level 1 headings. The first level of subheadings is Level 2, such as the headings Body of Paper and Reference Page in this paper. The third level of heading is used as an example in this section--How to format headings. Usually a section is not given a heading unless there is more than one heading in that level. Reference Page Begin the references on a new page with the label “References” centered at the top, not bolded. All reference entries are formatted with a “Hanging” indent of .5 inches. Use the Microsoft Word paragraph formatting tool to set your paragraph spacing by choosing “Hanging” under “Special.” List references according to APA 6th edition style, see especially chapter 7 for examples. Crediting Sources When you use an idea that is not your own, you must give credit to the author of that idea. The importance of giving credit for outside sources cannot be overstated. Every print source and everything found on the Internet must be cited in the text of your paper. The two sentences that follow are examples of how to create in-text citation of an article you found on a website. An article on the Ethics Resource Center website (Sears, 2004) presents three scenarios that demonstrate the types of ethical situations employees might face in their jobs. Or, Sears’ article (2004) from the Ethics Resource Center website presents three scenarios that demonstrate the types of ethical situations employees might face in their jobs. HOW TO FORMAT A PAPER 6 Your in-text citations must also have a complete citation on a reference page. This reference page citation provides more detailed information for each source. Only include references on the reference page that you have cited in your paper. Conclusion Note that papers generally do not have an “Introduction” section labeled, but often have a “Conclusion” section with its own heading. The introduction is generally understood as the first section of text following the title and does not need a header. This paper has been formatted as a sample paper for use by students. It is not intended to be a tutorial on APA style, but what is included in the text is correct. Once one learns formatting basics, writing papers for submission to class or for publication becomes easier. Happy writing! HOW TO FORMAT A PAPER 7 References American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Sears, B. (2004). Conflicts of interest. Monitor on Psychology, 39, 38-48. doi:10.1037/02786133.24.2.225 OR, if the article does not have an assigned DOI number Sears, B. (2004). Conflicts of interest. Monitor on Psychology, 39, 38-48. OR, include the URL homepage of the journal (section 6.32 in APA manual) Sears, B. (2004). Conflicts of interest. Monitor on Psychology, 39, 38-48. Retrieved from http:www.ethics.org/resources/articles-organizational-ethics.asp?aid=860 Do not indicate retrieval from library databases. Do not include retrieval dates for any source unless the source material may change over time.
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