SARIS / UMASS

Executive summary: One-third of respondents reported having used recreational drugs in high school. Virtually all high school drug users reported having used marijuana, whereas 12% reported having used hallucinogens. Two-fifths of respondents reported having used recreational drugs in the past twelve months; 37% said they had used marijuana, 11 % said they used “Club Drugs,” and 11% said they used hallucinogens. Both high school drug use and current drug use correlates with patterns of residency on campus: Residents of Central and Southwest were more likely to report drug use (both current and past) than residents of other areas. Almost half of the students who reported using drugs in the last twelve months said that they typically obtain the drugs they use from a friend. Almost three-quarters of users reported having ridden in a vehicle with a driver who had been using drugs, and over one-quarter said their drug use had interfered with their academic work.

On the evenings of Tuesday, November 2, and Tuesday, November 9, 1999, Project Pulse conducted a telephone survey for University Health Services in order to investigate students’ drug use. Pulse interviewers attempted to contact 1161 students who had been randomly selected by computer from the entire undergraduate population in the University’s database. Interviewers successfully contacted 786 of these students, and 589 (74.9%) agreed to be interviewed. The response rate for the survey was 50.7% and the sampling error is plus or minus approximately five percentage points. The final disposition of the sample is presented in Table 1 and a demographic summary of the respondents is presented in Table 2.

First, students were asked a battery of questions about their use of recreational drugs (e.g. marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, uppers, downers, inhalants, ecstasy) in high school (see Figure 1). About one-third of the respondents (34.1%, n=209) reported that they had used some kind of recreational drug when they were in high school. Males and females were equally likely to have used drugs in high school. One-third (33.7%, n=207) of all respondents reported using marijuana in high school, whereas 11.9% (n=73) had used hallucinogens, and about 5% had used other classes of drugs (see Figure 2). All but two of the students who reported using recreational drugs in high school used marijuana.

Figure 1. Self-reported recreational drug use in high school

Interestingly, students currently residing in the Southwest and Central residence areas were more likely to report having used drugs in high school than students living elsewhere on campus (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Self-reported recreational drug use in high school, by residence area at UMass

The next group of questions explored respondents’ current use of recreational drugs. Students were questioned about their drug use within the past twelve months, and within the past 30 days. Nearly two-fifths (38.2%, n=234) of students reported having used a recreational drug during the past year. The proportion having used drugs in the past twelve months did not vary by sex or by class year. More than one-third (36.7%, n=225) of all respondents reported having used marijuana in the past year, whereas about 10% had used “Club Drugs” and hallucinogens, and less than 5% had used each of the other classes of drugs. Figure 3 illustrates the proportions of all respondents who reported using each class of drugs within the past twelve months, and within the past 30 days.

Figure 3. Self-reported current recreational drug use.

Students’ self-report of current drug use within the past twelve months is correlated with patterns of residency on campus. Residents of Central and Southwest were significantly more likely than residents of Northeast, Sylvan and Orchard Hill to have used drugs in the past year (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Recreational drug use within the past twelve months, by residence area at UMass

The next battery of questions was asked only of students who indicated that they had used a recreational drug within the last twelve months. Respondents were asked how they typically obtain the drugs they use. Almost half reported that “a friend usually obtains the drugs” whereas one-quarter said that they get drugs from people both on and off campus (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. How students typically obtain the drugs they use.

Next, students who reported having used drugs in the past year were asked about specific problems they may have experienced as a result of their drug use (see Figure 6). Almost two-thirds of drug users (which translates into 24% of all students) said they had ridden in a vehicle driven by someone who had been using drugs. Over one-quarter (10.4% of all students) said that their use of drugs had interfered with their academic work .

Figure 6. Proportions of drug users who reported experiencing various problems or risks in the past twelve months as a result of their drug use

All survey respondents were asked about their use of alcohol during the last 30 days (see Figure 7). Four-fifths (81.4%, n=495) of students reported having used alcohol, and one-third (34.5%, n=210) had used it more than five times in that period.

Figure 7. Frequency of alcohol use within the last 30 days

All survey respondents were asked if they had ever heard of beedis (or bidis), the flavored cigarettes from India. Two-fifths (39.9%, n=242) of students had heard of beedis, and 17.8% (n=109) had smoked them. Men were significantly more likely than women to say that they had heard of beedis (46.1% v. 35.0%, c2=7.66, p=.006), but were no more likely to have smoked them.

All respondents also were asked, “Do you know any UMass students who think that someone gave them Ruffies - the date rape drug?” Twelve percent of students (n=71) said “yes.”

All respondents were asked their opinions regarding drug and alcohol availability at parties. Almost two-thirds of students (63.5%, n=358) said they would “prefer that alcohol be available, but not drugs,” whereas 18.4% (n=104) would “prefer that neither drugs nor alcohol be available” and 16.1% (n=91) would “prefer that both alcohol and drugs be available.” Only 2.0% (n=11) said that they would “prefer that drugs be available, but not alcohol.”

Table 1. Final Disposition of the Sample.
	N	% of Total	% of Contacted
Response Rate (In & cooperated)	589	50.7	74.9
In, declined interview	197	17.0	25.1
Not in	375	32.3
Totals	*1,161	100.0	100.0

*Excludes 55 sampled students with unobtainable phone numbers.

Table 2. Demographic Summary of the Respondents
	N		%
First-year	32.3	Northeast	13.1
Sophomore	25.1	Sylvan	12.0
Junior	20.4	Orchard Hill	13.1
Senior	22.2	Central	16.6
		Southwest	44.9
Female	55.7	Family Housing	0.2
Male	44.3	Off-campus	24.5

Average age = 19.9 years