"Health & Medical News"

Nearly one in ten first-year college students at a mid-Atlantic university have a cannabis use disorder (CUD), according to a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded study of drug use conducted by Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) investigators.

First-year students attending new student orientation were randomly selected to participate in a multiyear follow-up study. Overall, 9.4% of first-year students met the clinical definition for cannabis abuse (5.4%) and/or dependence (4.0%).

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Hoping to encourage more students to call for help when they or friends get in trouble with alcohol, the University of Texas is promising not to punish callers or victims even if they are underage, Fox News reported Jan. 15.

“Students are going to drink, and especially students who are not seasoned drinkers are going to put themselves at risk, so my belief is that it removes one barrier to saving a life,” said Chuck Roper, head of the school’s alcohol and drug education program.

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NASCAR driver Aaron Fike reached an agreement with a Warren County (Ohio) judge to deliver anti-drug messages to youths in exchange for avoiding jail time in his arrest for heroin possession last summer, Associated Press Sports reported Nov. 27.

NASCAR driver Aaron Fike and his fiancee Cassandra Davidson was arrested in an amusement park parking lot in Cincinnati. After four months of rehabilitation, Fike presented a proposal to the judge to avoid jail time by going to schools and racetracks to deliver an anti-drug message.

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Incoming Cornell University freshman must log onto a website and complete an online alcohol-prevention course before moving onto campus, CNN reported Sept. 5.

Cornell is one of more than 1,000 colleges that now require students to complete online courses about the dangers of drinking. Prevention programs used by colleges include Outside the Classroom’s AlcoholEdu, and 3rd Millennium Classroom’s Alcohol Wise. For students who already have experienced alcohol-related problem at school, colleges can turn to online intervention programs like San Diego University Research Foundation’s E-Chug.

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