STUDENTS SAYING 'NO' TO DRUG EXPERIMENTATION

The U.S. Department of Justice reports that in 2002, 36.2 percent of
college students had used marijuana in the 12 months before the survey
was given.

This makes marijuana the drug of choice on college campuses.
Stimulants were a distant second with 11.1 percent having used them
over the past year.

College campuses are notorious for their party scene. ETSU Public
Safety records show there were 25 drug and narcotic charges filed on
campus in the past year.

Some of the drug offenses were discovered during routine traffic stops
on campus, so those people may or may not have been students, said
Public Safety Officer Kim Denton.

The ETSU Counseling Center reported that it has had 33 students seek
help due to drug problems since last June.

While college is a place to learn social skills you will use for the
rest of your life, it is also an opportunity for self-discovery. Often
the quest for acceptance and the spirit of gaining life experience
leads to experimentation with illicit drugs, said Emalene Cook, a
nurse practitioner in Virginia.

Everyone has different reasons for trying drugs. Perhaps their parents
used drugs, or they were especially curious. No matter the reason,
universities everywhere are considered the hub of drug use.

The most popular drug, not counting alcohol, at ETSU is marijuana. An
unscientific survey of about 100 ETSU students showed about 23 percent
had smoked marijuana in the past month. Fifty-three percent reported
they had done so within the past year.

Although a relatively large percentage of students occasionally
partake in illegal drug use, almost one-fourth surveyed said they have
chosen to do no drugs at all. Reasons people choose not to use drugs
are as diverse as the reasons others do.

Randi Brockman, a 21-year-old English major, and her fiance Chris
Haxton, 21, computer science major, have both chosen to stay
completely drug-free. While both have had one small sip of wine or
beer, just to see what it tasted like, that is the extent of their
experimentation.

Neither has ever had much trouble dealing with peer pressure. "I've
been pretty lucky in that any friends I've had that did drugs never
pressured me to," Brockman said. "In fact most would have kicked my
ass if I ever had wanted to - which I didn't - they all loved that I
had that much 'will power' or whatnot."

Brockman's fiance "just said no," he said.

Curiosity is a main reason many choose to try drugs. "I've never heard
any descriptions of how drugs make people feel that would entice me to
try them," Brockman said. "I'm strong in my own sense of self that
way."

While curiosity is also a big reason some choose to use drugs, another
very popular reason is escape from reality. There is evidence that
even cavemen ate hallucinogenic berries for vision quests, according
to a Discovery Channel documentary on Neanderthals. "The desire to
escape reality is as old as civilization," said Cook, an employee at
Cumberland Mountain Community Services and an ETSU graduate.

This escape is what "Summer," 23, English major, was looking for the
first time she tried the drug ecstasy or MDMA. "I had just broken up
with my boyfriend of two years and a friend invited me to a rave," she
said. "He said, 'Eat this, it'll make you feel better,' so I did." Her
experience the first time was euphoric. "I thought, 'This is fun - I
should do this more often,' " she said.

She did. For the next three years, Summer's typical week consisted of
clubs and bars Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On weekends she and
her friends would go out of town to bigger parties. "We would go to
Asheville or Atlanta," she said.

After three straight years of consuming LSD, ecstasy, marijuana, as
well as other controlled substances she was not in school and
unemployed. Then her life changed forever.

Summer found out she was pregnant. She did not realize she was
pregnant until four months into the pregnancy. "When I found out I was
pregnant, I freaked out," she said.

She was concerned about the health of her unborn child. From that
moment on, she has been completely sober. Her child was healthy and is
now a thriving, active toddler. Summer is also doing well in college
and is close to a diploma. She knows she was lucky. "I didn't f--- up
my life, but I could've," she said.

Drugs have different effects on different people. Some can tolerate
them and others do not enjoy the feeling it gives them.

Summer would like to tell others that she does not judge others if
they choose to use drugs, but she also warns, "If drugs are your life,
you really don't have a life."

"Designer drugs such as ecstasy and homemade ones like methamphetamine
are extremely addictive and very dangerous because you don't know what
you're getting," Cook said.

Along with the health risks, there are also consequences to mental
health, she said. "Ecstasy depletes the brain chemical, serotonin,
which your brain only has a certain amount of. Once it's gone, it's
gone," Cook said. "I have seen people that after only one hit have
severe depression."

While the desires to escape reality will never go away, clearly, there
are risks involved with drug experimentation. Some take the chance
while others do not. "Studies show that those with a family history of
addiction are more likely to have a disposition to become addicted to
alcohol or drugs," Cook said.

Summer was lucky. "Quitting was easy for me," she said.

She had another life to consider, but she said it was hard to spend
time with her friends that still used drugs.

While drug use entails risk, it has always been a part of human life
and that is not likely to change.