Role of Colleges in War Against Drugs

Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Bob Martinez, asked the audience of students representing university and college fraternities and sororities for help in dealing with the drug problems of the United States. He said that historically Greek societies have devoted tens of thousands of hours to philanthropic service each year. He wants that effort directed toward the drug eradication. He also asked for help by their examples of drug-free conduct. The rate of college students' illegal drug use is higher than for the general population. Roughly 1 of 8 students used an illegal drug last month and approximately 1 in 3 used an illegal drug at least once in the last year. Although these numbers are down significantly from 10 years ago, they still indicate that drug use among white, middle class young adults is too high. Drug use is not just an ethnic, poverty problem, he said. “Addiction attaches itself to people who use drugs, period.” close