From study enhancers to bong rips, American colleges remain a hotbed for illegal drug experimentation. The Daily Beast finds the 30 institutions of higher learning where students experiment the most.
The college experience is all about stepping out of your comfort zone and trying new things. For some college students, that includes experimenting with drugs, from Adderall to acid to marijuana.
It’s no wonder, then, that the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy singled out university students as a group particularly prone to drug abuse in its latest strategy report.
“Reducing substance use behaviors among college students requires prevention strategies at the college or university as well as in the surrounding off-campus community,” according to the White House report.
With the seriousness of college substance abuse in mind, The Daily Beast crunched the numbers to find the 30 druggiest campuses in America for the second consecutive year. We took into account three data points. First we turned to College Prowler, the largest student-rating database, to find the institutions with the lowest “drug scene” grades. A low grade indicates that there is more peer pressure to use unprescribed medications and illegal drugs, and that illegal drugs are generally more noticeable. This year we considered only schools with a drug-safety grade of C+ or worse. The drug-safety grade accounted for 40 percent of the final ranking.
We then considered on-campus arrests for drug-law violations at each school, with 2010 data from the U.S. Department of Education also accounting for 40 percent of the final ranking. We calculated a drug-arrests-per-capita metric for each school, based on the Department of Education’s student-enrollment numbers.
For the final 20 percent of our ranking, we took into account each campus’s surrounding environment, using data on statewide illicit drug use for 18- to 25-year-olds from the 2008-2009 U.S. Department of Human Services National Survey on Drug Abuse.
A vibrant social atmosphere might make your alma mater one of The Daily Beast’s top party schools—and might also make it one of America’s 30 druggiest colleges.
New Paltz, N.Y.
Enrollment: 7,907
On-campus drug arrests: 47
Drug-safety grade: C+
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 26.01 percent
San Diego, Calif.
Enrollment: 32,817
On-campus drug arrests: 71
Drug-safety grade: C
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 21.79 percent
Oxford, Ohio
Enrollment: 16,884
On-campus drug arrests: 55
Drug-safety grade: C
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 19.91 percent
Ithaca, N.Y.
Enrollment: 6,894
On-campus drug arrests: 13
Drug-safety grade: C
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 26.01 percent
arthurohm / flickr
Santa Barbara, Calif.
Enrollment: 22,850
On-campus drug arrests: 54
Drug-safety grade: C
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 21.79 percent
Oneonta, N.Y.
Enrollment: 5,893
On-campus drug arrests: 56
Drug-safety grade: C+
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 26.01 percent
Brandon Koger / Flickr
New Orleans, La.
Enrollment: 11,464
On-campus drug arrests: 20
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 18.86 percent
Oswego, N.Y.
Enrollment: 8,119
On-campus drug arrests: 108
Drug-safety grade: C+
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 26.01 percent
Dallas, Texas
Enrollment: 10,891
On-campus drug arrests: 28
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 16.97 percent
Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Enrollment: 2,727
On-campus drug arrests: 1
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 26.01 percent
Missoula, Mont.
Enrollment: 14,921
On-campus drug arrests: 43
Drug-safety grade: C
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 24.52 percent
Durham, N.H.
Enrollment: 15,253
On-campus drug arrests: 129
Drug-safety grade: C+
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 30.32 percent
Jimmy Emerson / Flickr
Erie, Pa.
Enrollment: 4,400
On-campus drug arrests: 2
Drug-safety grade: D+
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 18.03 percent
Carlisle, Pa.
Enrollment: 2,376
On-campus drug arrests: 7
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 18.03 percent
Kingston, R.I.
Enrollment: 16,389
On-campus drug arrests: 7
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 30.09 percent
Hartford, Conn.
Enrollment: 2,438
On-campus drug arrests: 8
Drug-safety grade: C
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 24.91 percent
Grinnell, Iowa
Enrollment: 1,688
On-campus drug arrests: 7
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 13.21 percent
Glassboro, N.J.
Enrollment: 11,006
On-campus drug arrests: 16
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 20.48 percent
St. Petersburg, Fla.
Enrollment: 2,520
On-campus drug arrests: 8
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 18.17 percent
diamond-mind / flickr
Delaware, Ohio
Enrollment: 1,893
On-campus drug arrests: 20
Drug-safety grade: C
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 19.91 percent
OZinOH / Flickr
Fredonia, N.Y.
Enrollment: 5,774
On-campus drug arrests: 24
Drug-safety grade: C
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 26.01 percent
Lewiston, Maine
Enrollment: 1,738
On-campus drug arrests: 2
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 28.63 percent
Purchase, N.Y.
Enrollment: 4,192
On-campus drug arrests: 25
Drug-safety grade: C
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 26.01 percent
Jeffrey Putman / Flickr
Eugene, Ore.
Enrollment: 22,335
On-campus drug arrests: 128
Drug-safety grade: C
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 27.85 percent
Erik Bishoff / Flickr
Normal, Ill.
Enrollment: 21,184
On-campus drug arrests: 146
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 18.94 percent
libdespot / flickr
Gambier, Ohio
Enrollment: 1,633
On-campus drug arrests: 8
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 19.91 percent
Smithfield, R.I.
Enrollment: 3,632
On-campus drug arrests: 34
Drug-safety grade: C
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 30.09 percent
Herzogbr / Flickr
Hanover, N.H.
Enrollment: 5,987
On-campus drug arrests: 12
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 30.32 percent
Granville, Ohio
Enrollment: 2,267
On-campus drug arrests: 14
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 19.91 percent
Boulder, Colo.
Enrollment: 33,010
On-campus drug arrests: 801
Drug-safety grade: C-
Regular drug use, age 18-25, statewide: 27.29 percent
Ed Andrieski / AP Photo
