CU students and staff are unsure how much a recent study from the U.K., which named alcohol the deadliest drug, will affect the student body.
Matthew Tomatz, the substance abuse coordinator at CU’s Counseling and Psychology Services, said while he is uncertain how students will react to the study’s results, he believes students should always consider the risks when dealing with substances.
“I think it’s important [that students] always consider their use because there are risks to consider when using any drugs or alcohol and they can always die from using too much,” Tomatz said.
According to a recently published health study, British researchers have named alcohol as the most dangerous drug, when considering both individual and societal effects. In the study members of the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs and two guest specialists rated twenty different drugs in a one-day interactive workshop. The committee scored each drug out of 100 points based on 16 factors, nine based on individual harms, like personal health issues, and seven based on societal harms, like crime.
On an individual level the committee rated heroin, crack cocaine and meth as the most harmful, but on a societal level alcohol, heroin and crack took the top three spots. However, with a combined score of 72, alcohol earned the rating as the deadliest drug overall, with heroin and crack cocaine taking second and third, scoring 55 and 54 respectively.
Henry Huidekoper, a 22-year-old senior broadcast news major, said the rating did not shock him.
“It’s not a shock to me,” Huidekoper said. “I think more people drink and it is more socially accepted and it’s not frowned upon as much, like heroin is.”
Other students, like Trey Mullen, a senior 22-year-old ecology and evolutionary biology major, said they question the study.
“I don’t agree with the study,” Mullen said. “I know how to drink responsibly. You can’t responsibly do heroin or crack. It’s comparing apples to oranges, both are damaging if you abuse them, but you can drink in moderation.”
Even though the ratings may be subject to debate, Raina Burdick, a 20-year-old sophomore business major, said she feels the study will have little effect on the student body.
“I don’t think it will impact the students … CU is one of the biggest party schools and when people think how to have a good time, they’re not thinking about the effects,” Burdick said.
Such negative effects include affecting memory formation and sleeping habits, which indirectly affect learning and attitude, Tomatz said. To deter harmful effects, Tomatz said he suggests that students should plan how much they will drink and eat food before going out, as well as spread out drink consumption over time.
Tomatz said he hopes the study will serve as a reminder of alcohol’s potential danger to students.
“I’m not sure how the student body will react [to the study] but my hope is that [the study] will remind them that alcohol is a serious drug and can really impact our lives,” Tomatz said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Rose Heaphy at Josephine.heaphy@colorado.edu.
