Tufts Daily

Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Daily File Photo Tufts students indulged in marijuana smoking on Sunday, a habit that most students claim is infrequent.

The passing of the unofficial "420" holiday this weekend brought an oft-hidden side of campus culture out into the open. As 4:20 p.m. approached on Sunday, students flooded the library roof, smoke curled into the air and a roaring trade in burritos and afternoon snacks quickly arose.

Although policemen rapidly cleared the scene, this short-lived sense of community served as a reminder of the quiet role that marijuana plays on the Tufts campus and many others.

While it is difficult to statistically pin down the prevalence of marijuana on college campuses, the Federal Office of National Drug Control Policy recently reported that in 2006 46.9 percent of college students had tried marijuana, while 16.7 percent had used the drug in the 30 days prior to the survey. The American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment found that 19.6 percent of college students used the drug very occasionally, while 10.6 percent of students reported marijuana use 1-9 days a month. 1.7 percent of students reported daily use.

Ian Wong, the director of health education of the Alcohol and Drug Program at Health Services, is conducting a student survey that will provide more insight into marijuana use at Tufts. Although he is still waiting on the results, he said he believes the drug's use at Tufts to be close to these statistics and on par with that of other campuses. "It doesn't seem like [marijuana] is a bigger problem here than anywhere else," he said.

One senior male, John*, whose daily use of the drug has given him a

considerable level of insight into the role that marijuana plays on campus, believes that there are three different levels of marijuana use at Tufts.

"There are the true stoners, who might be associated with the Bonnaroo [Music Festival] crowd, who believe there is a cultural and spiritual element to weed," John said. "Then there are the people who do it just once in a while; infrequent smokers who really enjoy it. The third and final group, which I think is the most common, are affluent students [who use marijuana to] waste time and money with like-minded friends."

While John does not believe that marijuana use is more common at Tufts than anywhere else, he does believe that the relatively high level of wealth in the student body, along with the competitive nature of the school, renders the atmosphere of the school one that lends itself to frequent use of the drug.

Continued...

Page 1 of 3 next >

Article Tools