Best Drug Use Prevention Strategies on a University Campus - Coursework Example

Best drug use prevention strategies on a campus Introduction Evidences supporting drug prevention strategies on campuses vary widely. The emergence of differences in the strategies is because of different type of situations that arises among college students. Most of the colleges in the modern world conduct surveys in order to gain knowledge about the exact number of students addicted by consumption of drugs. Excessive consumption of drugs and alcohol has direct impact on the health of students as well as on the prosperity of the society. It has been recorded that most of the criminal activities in the society have occurred due to consumption of drugs and alcohol. Modern prevention programs should focus on reducing the criminal offences committed by the young generation due to the ill-effect of drugs. In the United States of America students are directly involved with the consumption of drugs. Most of the students have a decreasing tendency towards their academic curriculum and they enjoy illegal activities that are risk prone. The education system of the United States of America has incorporated many strategies and programs based on which the negative impacts of drugs are educated to students. Families and peers play important role in the life of students and it is essential for students to select healthy environment for betterment society. Consumption of drugs has negative impact on the critical and creative skills of student’s mind; hence they should be given proper emphasis by legal bodies. This research paper provides evidences about the best drug prevention strategies implemented by university campuses along with its effect on students. Analysis In the modern world most of the colleges and universities are concerned about their student behaviors regarding the use of drugs. The University Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse emphasizes to support programs and policies across the universities. Training programs for staffs, faculties and student leaders have been provided in order to assure that students can be motivated against the use of drugs by their mentors. The Boston College of Massachusetts has set some of the best examples regarding implementation of programs against consumption of drugs. The Boston College has initiated some training intervention programs for their students to educate them about the ill-effects of drugs. All the students are taught about the impact of drugs inhuman body and its significance in the society. Students are also refrained from smoking and drinking habits during their stay in the college campuses. During the organization of events, college faculties focus on students habits and they make sure that students do-not violate any rules of the college. Family members and parents of students are also educated about the risks drugs have in the life of students and provide them methods to refrain students from falling into bad company. The college has also implemented methodical ways to increase the surveillance on student behaviors while they are in college campus. According to a survey conducted in the Boston College during 1999 and 2000, it had been observed that the implementation of strategies reduced the consumption of drugs and alcohol in students by 33 percent (Eric, 2012). The Noctis Sero project initiated by the University of Chicago made some significant changes in the behaviors of students related to consumption of drugs. The program emphasized on the collaboration of drugs and alcohol dialogues, action and policy among students and teachers. It also focused on collection of data regarding student health behaviors. With the help of the program, the University of Chicago managed to keep drugs and alcohol out of the reach of students. The events organized in the year 2005 and 2006 had some positive significance regarding consumption of drugs by students. It was observed that the consumption level of drugs gradually decreased after the implementation of the program and more emphasis was given on the consumption of marijuana by students. In the Western countries students get addicted to the consumption of marijuana due to its high availability. The Universities and Colleges of the United States of America have incorporated many steps in order to reduce the consumption of drugs by students. Undoubtedly, some of the methods had great effect against the use of drugs however some strategies did-not work well. In order to protect children against the negative impacts of drugs government and legal bodies should also provide more emphasis on these issues. With the help of the above graph, it is clear that the consumption of drugs is optimum in the Western countries. Most of the college students use inhalants for getting high, such as Marijuana and heroin. The drugs are extremely dangerous for the mental and physical development of human beings. The graph is based on the evidences collected by the University of Michigan in the year 2013 regarding the future changes in the behavior of students. After through study of the reports presented by the university government agencies in the United States of America awarded the university because the percentage of students consuming drugs has reduced drastically in the past few years (Drugabuse, 2014). It shows that the intervention programs and efforts made by the university had positive significance against drug abuse. There are basically two strategies based on which Universities and colleges take steps for the prevention of drug usage by students. Primary prevention strategies are the programs that are incorporated by schools, colleges and universities to prevent students from getting involved with the use of drugs or to educate them about the ill-effects of drugs. According to researchers, primary prevention strategies are very important and they have stronger impact compared to the secondary prevention strategies. The implementation of the primary prevention strategies requires involvement of medical experts and scientists because they can provide the best examples to teachers and students. The primary prevention strategy programs are also held for family members, which are initiated under government programs. The primary prevention techniques include training programs, general examples and medical effects of the consumption of drugs. Secondary prevention strategies are the programs that are implemented when students are already affected by the consumption of drugs. The main purpose of secondary prevention is to treat students from the illness caused due to consumption of drugs and motivate them to quit further consumption (NCBI, 2010). Secondary prevention strategies are generally difficult to implement successfully because the main focus is on addicted students and it is difficult to motivate students once they are addicted to drugs. It has been observed that the secondary prevention strategies against the consumption of drugs are generally incorporated by medical practitioners and behavioral health stakeholders because universities and colleges do-not have much role to play for students already suffering from the negative impacts of drugs. University campuses mainly emphasize on primary prevention strategies. The colleges and universities do-not want their students to be caught with the addition of drugs (O’Malley & Johnston, 2005). It is significant that prevention of use of drugs is better from the treatment. The faculties and management department of colleges and universities restrict students from consuming drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes in the campuses and they incorporate training programs for students and teachers to make them understand about the negative effects of drugs. For many issues both primary and secondary interventions are essential in order to achieve a meaningful degree of prevention strategy. However, experts believe that it is not possible to implement all kind of prevention programs in an organization. It has been observed that most of the students get addicted to drugs and alcohols during their college days because of the stress that comes from family, peers and academic curriculums. Previously, these factors were not taken thoughtfully for enhancing the skills of students but researchers believe that students mind is required to be at a peaceful state in order to understand the effect of drugs in the body. Moreover, mental peace also optimizes the working ability of mind, which enhances the skills of students and finally they can overcome the problems associated with drug consumption (Surgeon General, 2014). As an alternative method experts have suggested recreational programs like games, swimming, dancing etc. These programs are healthy and they enhance the creative skills of students. College students should be offered brief motivational enhancement techniques for betterment of their career objective and against the use of drugs and excessive alcohol. Generally college students are aware of the ill-effects of drugs; little motivation regularly will help them to stay from the adverse effects of drugs. In the modern world most of the universities have incorporated this strategy in order to prevent their students from the problems associated with the consumption of drugs. University managements in the United States have taken up these programs seriously and they have emphasized on the progressive methods of students. Medical practitioners and drug-researchers should be allowed to take up the trainings for faculties and students. It is also essential to understand that students are vulnerable, when they are in colleges hence faculty members and guardians of students should keep track of their peers. One of the most important factors that encourage students towards consumption of drugs is the wide-availability of drugs. In order to prevent college students from getting addicted to drugs government and legal bodies must reduce the flow of drugs in the country (College drinking prevention, 2005). The best way to decrease the flow of drugs is to increase the price. College students would not have access to drugs if the price of regular drugs like marijuana is raised. University and college staffs should have a close check on the availability of drugs near the university campuses. Implementing these methodical ways would definitely reduce the consumption of drugs by college students. Discussion Based on the evidences mentioned in the analysis it is significant that there are many drug use prevention strategies that are implemented on university campuses. For university campuses the best drug prevention strategy is primary prevention strategy. For colleges and schools primary prevention strategy is preferred because it has the best results on students. Implementation of one kind of prevention program does-not mean that the other program is not essential. Both prevention programs work hand-in-hand. From the university perspectives primary prevention programs are best because they prevent students from getting used to consumption of drugs. Hence, primary prevention strategies are best for students in universities. In order to implement proper drug prevention methods for students in schools and colleges, it is very essential to collect different type of strategies and set priority on them. First of all universities and colleges should collect evidence of effectiveness among college students regarding the prevention programs. By combining cognitive-behavioral skills with motivational and clarification norms universities can motivate students to find alternate methods for reducing their stress. Consumption of drugs is unethical as it has many adverse in the society. With the consumption of drugs not only the health of the students goes for toss but the entire society is also exposed to threat. Based on the evidences collected from police records and journals it has been observed that the criminal activities like Women molestation, group fights, murders etc. occurred due to consumption of drugs and alcohol. After the consumption of drugs the human brain receives false signals through the blood vessels, which causes the mind to hallucinate. During this stage of brain people do-not have the level of understanding about the actions and they end up committing criminal activities. From students’ perspective consumption of drugs is highly dangerous because it has been observed that students quit their academic career due to influence of drugs and get involved in anti-social activities. The evidence collected from the University of Michigan provides substantial information about the different types of drugs used by students and it also provides the information about the decreasing trend of drug consumption due to the strategies incorporated by the university in its campus. Most of the universities and colleges have already emphasized some training models and some development programs against the use of drugs however the consumption of drugs among students outside the campus is at the optimum level. It is understandable that college faculties, staffs and managers can-not go behind every student after their college hours but more emphasis is required on the current programs. According to the best prevention program suggested by William Dejong, College faculties must keep regular touch with the guardians of students. Teachers are also responsible for motivating students towards their career along with little intervention regarding the risks associated in the society due to consumption of drugs. Faculty members and college staffs must have a routine check near their campus to check for drug-handlers and restrict them from supplying them to students. University officials should not allow students to display advertisements of alcohol and cigarettes in the school campus during events. Implementation of these steps would definitely help in reducing the consumption of drugs and alcohol in the college campuses as well as in the society. The prevention program is based on the primary prevention strategy. However, there is significant importance of the secondary prevention strategy in the college campuses. In order to protect students addicted with drugs, faculty members must inform medical officers. Consultation and advice provided by the faculty members can educate guardians about the remedies that can be implanted to protect students from the ell-effects of drugs. It is significant that universities and colleges play important role in the society to prevent drugs consumption but government and guardians should be more responsible and attentive towards the actions of students. Preventing drug abuse and excessive alcohol consumption increases people’s chances of living productive and healthy lives. Implementation of this mantra in the mind of students from very beginning of the academic careers can bring significant changes in their behavior towards the use of drugs and alcohol. Conclusion From the above discussion and analysis, it is clear that drug prevention programs are very essential in colleges and universities. Most of the youths in the modern world have a tendency towards consumption of drugs. Universities and colleges have played significant roles in order to check the flow of drugs in university campuses. There are mainly two types of prevention programs for drug abuse. Primary prevention program and secondary prevention program are the two methods based on which universities and government agencies try to cut the flow of drugs from global market to college students. With the help of primary prevention strategies, universities and colleges develop training programs for students and faculty members and it has been most efficient in the entire prevention process. Most of the colleges in the world follow the primary prevention strategies however the secondary prevention strategies are equally important and based on the secondary programs medical practitioners and government agencies find methods to control the use of drugs by addicted students. According to the evidences obtained from the colleges, it is clear that the percentage of addicted students has decreased compared to 2009 and previous years. This shows that the intervention programs initiated by the colleges have significant effect on students and the programs also motivated students to enhance their career goals. Therefore, it can be concluded that universities and colleges shape the future of students and the drug prevention strategies on university campuses have drastic positive effect in their life. References College drinking prevention. (2005). Recommended strategies. Retrieved from: . Drugabuse. (2014). Drug Facts: High School and Youth Trends. Retrieved from: . Eric. (2012). Drug prevention on college campus. Retrieved from: . NCBI. (2010). Prevention and intervention. Retrieved from: . O’Malley, P., & Johnston, L. (2005). Epidemiology of Alcohol and Other Drug Use among American College Students. Retrieved from: . Surgeon General. (2014). Preventing drug abuse and excessive alcohol use. Retrieved from: . Read More