Class Reaction Piece on Drugs and Alcohol Abuse

Class Reaction Piece

In the class we chose to react on, we learned about alcohol and drugs, presented by Betria Stinson from the University Health Center. She preseented about drug and alcohol use at UGA, the effects they have on your body, what is classified as a standard drink, and harm-reduction strategies for alcohol and drug abuse. This topic interested us, because we are on the campus setting and, and drugs and alcohol surround us on a daily basis. It is important for us to understand the consequences of engaging in these risky behaviors. We feel that it is important that students know that there are services at UGA to help them avoid drugs and alcohol as well as treat any problems dealing with drugs and alcohol, whether they are physical, emotional, or mental. During finals especially, it is important that everyone is aware of drug abuse in stressful times and can find another outlet of relieving stress, besides turning to drugs.

Socially, this topic impacts us, becuase we are in a college setting at a school that is known for partying. We have friends and peer who take drugs, and we should know how to help them. Religiously, drugs can often offend other people's beliefs. Engaging in drug and alcohol related scenarios is looked down upon in many religions. We were unaware of the severity of the long term effects of Adderall on the body. Some of these effects include malnutrition, tremors, convulsions, headaches, and potentially death. These effects can harm the individual as well as the individual's family and friends. We were also unaware of the prevelance of drug abuse on campus. We also learned that drugs like Adderall are much more easily attainable than we knew. This is part of the reason they are so widely abused. Athletes, the greek community, and first-year students are the highst drug and alcohol abusing groups on campus.

At UGA, 80% of students drink alcohol, and 38% of students have reported binge drinking in the past two weeks. Drinking and drugs can directly impact a student's social life, academic life, and even their home life. Ms. Stinson also discussed how tolerance can increase, but trigger level stays the same. We did not realize the difference between tolerance and trigger level before this lesson.This knowledge is important to public health, because it can harm not only yourself but people around you too. Drinking and driving can aslo be a danger to everyone in the community. Drug and alcohol abuse can cause risky behaviors that can negatively impact the person engaging in the activities as well as everyone around. Our remaining questions would be the rates of drug and alcohol abuse of students that have recently graduated or at smalle college towns. Also, how many students that had a drug or alcohol problem in college graduated and went on to get help? Overall, this was a very important and imformative lesson that all college aged students should be aware of.

By: Kristen Marlatt, Chelsea Danison, Jennifer Kim