Alcohol consumption is common in people of all ages but college students are more likely to be involved in it. The last few decades showed an overall increased rate of alcohol consumption but the new study has revealed that American college students are no more interested to consume alcohol. The use of alcohol has been decreased by 28% in college students and up to 30% in school students. The risk of alcohol abuse has also decreased drastically.
The complete study findings are published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
Despite reporting a significant reduction in alcoholism, health experts estimate that the overall health risk is still highest for youngsters because of the increased use of marijuana and other substances. The increase in combining marijuana with alcohol and other stimulants is also in demand which shows that substance abuse is still a concern among American college students.
Also read- General Anesthesia is Not a Risk Factor for Dementia in Older Adults
There are mixed reviews on how students are using and misusing substances including alcohol and marijuana which has damaging effects for every user. Any rapid change requires close monitoring and identifying the trends to create a controlling strategy.
This study overlooked the data obtained from 182,722 young students to study the use and misuse of alcohol and marijuana from the years 2015 to 2018. They were surprised to see that the use of alcohol has been dropped among American college students.
Sean Esteban McCabe from the U-M School of Nursing is the lead author of this study. According to him, this result ensures a reduction in alcohol use disorders among school and college students.
The number of alcohol consumers in school and college students in the year 2018 was recorded to be nearly half than in 2002. This drop is drastic, noticeable, and significant because alcohol-related complications are one of the biggest causes of death in younger adults.
The study’s co-author, Ty Schepis from Texas State says that the popularity of marijuana and co-usage of marijuana and alcohol has been somehow still popular. It can be more deadly than using alcohol or marijuana alone which is why, without a controlling strategy, the future doesn’t seem very promising.
What required more attention is the co-use of these two opiates which can be extremely difficult to control and treat. There is also a chance of these co-users to try illicit drugs which have been a vital interest among youth in recent years.
Also read- Does a ‘Weak Positive COVID-19 Test’ Mean You are Infected?
These findings show that the trends of substance use have been changed in the last 20 years. Previously, it was any of these substances independently in use but now it has changed into a combined substance abuse risk.
This multiple substance abuse is far more dangerous than single substance abuse. It also suggests that strategies that only focus on one substance like alcohol to control may not be as effective as a poly-substance abuse.
The findings of this study urge policymakers to change their attention towards multi-aspect interventions such as using marijuana and alcohol together. This polysubstance abuse is a huge risk in youngsters including students and non-students.
