Marijuana, Molly and Mixing

Lauren Sigfusson Evergreen reporter

Drug use at WSU is on par with national levels, said Patricia Maarhuis, WSU Alcohol and Drug Counseling, Assessment, and Prevention Services (ADCAPS) coordinator.

“Substance use inherently comes with a level of risk and harm,” she said. “Just because our numbers at WSU are on par with national numbers doesn’t mean that there aren’t health risks.”

Drug use can affect students’ academic performance, physical health and cognitive impairment, Maarhuis said.

The ADCAPS program provides a comprehensive approach to education, using harm reduction philosophy, as well as opportunities for students to come in for whatever level of intervention they need, she said.

“Our whole focus is – OK if it’s this, how do we reduce the harm? If it’s that, how do we reduce the harm? We just try to stay abreast with what the current concerns are,” Maarhuis said.

When looking at numbers the main concerns other than alcohol are marijuana and prescription pills, respectively, she said. However, Molly and mixing substances are also concerning, based on the levels of danger, she said.

 

Marijuana

Steve Hansen, assistant chief of WSU Police, said on-campus drug arrests have been steadily rising, and roughly 95 percent of the arrests are for marijuana.

Hansen said he believes drug arrests will continue to rise because many calls occur in the residence halls with underage students.

According to the Washington State Liquor Control Board, Initiative 502 that passed in November 2012, allows the licensing and regulation of cannabis production, distribution and possession for persons older than 21. I-502 also removes state-law criminal and civil penalties for the authorized activities, but doesn’t reference anything on the federal level.

“I think everybody from the legislatures in Olympia to Liquor Control, to the police and health educators like us – we’re all trying to figure out what this means,” Maarhuis said.

About 16 percent of WSU students have used marijuana in the past 30 days, which is slightly lower than the national average of 17 percent, according to the spring 2012 National College Health Assessment (NCHA).

Cannabis is used for both recreational and medicinal purposes.

Dr. Cassandra Nichols, director of WSU Testing and Counseling Services, said people often don’t see it as a drug because the negative side effects aren’t as vast compared to other substances.

Dr. Dennis J. Garcia, senior associate medical director of Health and Wellness Services (HWS), said marijuana use has been known to help some people with panic attacks and anxiety, but it doesn’t help students improve their academic success.

The drug increases apathy and promotes a lack of motivation, he said.

Since the 1970s, marijuana has also been heavily cultivated and modified, increasing the THC content, which can cause people to “freak out,” Garcia said.

 “You’d be a whole lot better off coming in to see the doctor for some other treatment, than to self-medicate,” he said.

 

Prescription Pills

According to National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), some prescription medications have mind-altering properties, which many abusers of the drugs desire even if they do not have a need for the medication.

The prescription pills that WSU students most commonly abuse are: pain killers (OxyContin, Vicodin and Codeine) and stimulants (Ritalin and Adderall). The use is slightly higher than the national average, according to the most recent report by the NCHA.

“Students don’t have to buy this particular substance, the prescription, from a dealer. It’s quite easy to get,” Maarhuis said. “They divert it from their own family, or neighbor’s medicine cabinet.”

Students may also acquire their desired drug by faking symptoms to get a prescription from a physician or a dentist, she said.

Maarhuis said even though users may understand what is in a prescription pill and the dosage more than they do other substances on the street, that doesn’t mean it’s safer to take when not prescribed.

Garcia said students come into HWS with chest pains, anxiety attacks and headaches due to elevated blood pressure from using stimulants, such as Adderall.

 “How sad, your whole life is centered around trying to obtain a narcotic,” he said. “I’d rather have my life centered around enjoying my college experience than seeking out my next prescription.”

Nichols said people believe it’s harmless to abuse pharmaceuticals because it’s a prescription pill – and they make the same mistake with Molly.

 

Molly

Commonly in pill form, Molly, or MDMA, is a current drug that is of concern, Nichols said.

Maarhuis said no one really knows what they’re getting when purchasing Molly because it’s often cut with other substances.

“There’s a lot of mythology out there that when it’s called Molly it’s some sort of pure form (of Ecstasy), which is going to be somehow better or less risky,” she said. “There’s no proof of that.”

The drug can cause behavior that leads to hyperthermia and dehydration, two specific concerns doctors have, Maarhuis said.

“The risks go up because of the kind of substance it is,” she said. “The use is very unpredictable.”

Garcia said the drug also causes serotonin depletion, which drops a user into a depression otherwise known as “the Tuesday morning blues.” 

“If you already have that predisposition for depression, it’s just made worse to where it starts to impact your ability to get your work done,” he said.

The regular use of alcohol and narcotics also affect serotonin levels, and it can take weeks to rebuild serotonin no matter which drug has been taken, Garcia said.

Hansen said in certain circumstances police are seeing an increase in the use of the designer drugs such as MDMA, Molly and Ecstasy.

Maarhuis said Molly is also linked to music concerts. With the EDM group, Adventure Club, coming to the CUB Senior Ballroom on Oct. 29, the WSU Police will have officers inside and outside the concert, Hansen said.

“We will be looking for the drugs that are commonly associated with those types of events,” Hansen said.

Alison Weigley, community relations coordinator for Pullman Regional Hospital, said officials at the hospital put the event on their calendar after the WSU Counseling Services alerted them.

”As far as hospital preparations go, our emergency department staff are aware of the event, but we aren’t staffing at a higher volume,” she said.

 

Mixing

Substance use is sometimes also accompanied by alcohol, Garcia said. Mixing can present a danger, and especially when combined with stimulants.

In March 2012, scientific opposition to the issue of mixing alcohol with stimulants was published in the International Journal of General Medicine.  The research showed energy drinks enhancing the dangers of alcohol on the human body is scarce, and therefore should not be taken into account with cases of extreme alcohol abuse.

However, many individuals in the scientific community strongly disagree, including Garcia.

“You get the effects from the stimulant dramatically right away, but the alcohol slowly takes effect because it slowly metabolizes,” he said.

The stimulant counteracts the alcohol, allowing a person to continue drinking, he said.  The alcohol then has a profound effect after the stimulant wears off.

“You go from being the life of the party to passing out and your friends forgetting you were there,” he said.

Maarhuis said, “No matter what you’re mixing, you’re looking at a level of lack of predictably of how a person’s going to respond – so risk goes up.”

Nichols said when mixing substances a student is playing chemical roulette.

Maarhuis said substance use can affect academic performance, and students should think about what type of college experience they want to have if considering them. She also said ADCAPS wants to foster that sense of “Cougs taking care of Cougs” in their outreach programs.

“Students care about each other,” she said.

Even if substance use or alcohol just isn’t a big part of students’ lives, they care about the people around them, she said.

Also, universities with a ‘partying hard’ reputation may make a student’s degree less valuable in the workplace, and vice versa, and students should consider this, she said.

Maarhuis emphasized that numbers don’t necessarily describe the risks that come with substances.

“We acknowledge that our problems aren’t worse than other universities, but there’s still work to be done,” she said.

Nichols said at some point, whether later in life or during their college years, drugs will start affecting a user’s life in ways that are important to them.

“Now they’re failing classes. Now they can’t make rent. Now people have left them,” she said. “Look at what’s the cost, and at some point there’s going to be a cost if they’re habitual users.”