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Study: On An Average College Day, 700,000 Students Are Smoking Pot

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Guy Bentley Research Associate, Reason Foundation
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On any given day, more than 700,000 college students across the country are using marijuana, according to a recent nationwide study.

Out of a population of nine million, 703,759 full-time students used marijuana on an average day and 1,299 students tried marijuana for the first time, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The study also found that out of two million part-time college students almost 200,000 are smoking pot on an average day. The data is drawn from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the SAMHSA report looks at students aged 18-22.

More than 20 percent of full-time students used an illicit drug in the past month, and in the past year, six percent tried an illicit drug for the first time.

The report looked at nine types of drugs including marijuana, cocaine (including crack cocaine), heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, non-medical use of prescription painkillers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives.

“Findings in this report show that, on an average day, alcohol and marijuana were the substances most frequently initiated by both full-time and part-time college students,” says the report. “Heroin and methamphetamine were the least frequently initiated substances by both populations.

“Although college affords young people numerous new experiences, neither substance use initiation nor substance abuse are universal college experiences. Providing college students with credible and accurate information about the harm associated with substance use is crucial to prevention.”

The SAMHSA report mirrors the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future study released September 2015. The study found the number of college students smoking marijuana every day or nearly every day was greater than it had been in 35 years at six percent.

The study claimed relaxed marijuana policies in states across the country have likely contributed to a rise in use by teens and young adults, who increasingly perceive the drug as harmless. (RELATED: Study: Daily Pot Smoking On College Campuses At 35-Year High)

Colorado and Washington state both voted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012. In total, 25 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana in some form or another.

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