In legal states, college kids toke up more, binge drink less: What does this mean for student health? - by Dr. B

College students are hanging up the beer bong for the smoking kind.

A recent Oregon State University study found that in states in which cannabis was legalized by 2018, the occasional and frequent use among college students rose and continued to rise beyond year one of legalization. Students in states where cannabis is legal were 18% and 17% more likely to have used cannabis in the past month and engaged in frequent use than students in non-legal states, respectively.

While this trend in usage suggests that college students in legal states are not just experimenting with cannabis, like their counterparts in previous decades have done. Over the long term of legalization, students in legal states were 46% more likely to use cannabis than students in states where the plant is on lockdown.

The study included data from seven states, 135 colleges, and existed in states where cannabis was legalized by 2018, as well as data from 41 states and 454 colleges where use is illegal. This data was gleaned from the National College Health Assessment, which should be considered the data source for all things health and wellness related among college students. This author may be a bit biased towards the NCHA, as it provided a wealth of data for my own dissertation research. However, the American College Health Association (ACHA) has collected comprehensive student health data and will celebrate 100 years of serving as the leaders in student health and wellness in 2020.

A companion study, also completed at Oregon State and in conjunction with the main researchers on the original study, compared legalized cannabis use and college students’ use of other substances. These results may be the most telling. Findings showed a significant drop in binge drinking by college students in states that have legal cannabis compared to students where it is not legal. While percentages of college students who engage in binge drinking overall have declined, the numbers are significantly less in states with legal cannabis.

This information has the potential to greatly impact how college student health professionals, particularly in those who work where cannabis is legal, utilize evidence-based research such as this to alter or improve their resources to help students with substance use or misuse issues. As cannabis law changes at the state and national levels, how student health professionals present programming, research, and education to students will be important about the possible medical benefit of the usage of cannabis. Talking about pot on campus is a very fine line in higher education in 2020. While higher education professionals cannot outright encourage students to use cannabis, regardless of personal preference, as more data like this becomes available, it has the potential to alter the conversations, interventions, and guidance college student health professionals give to students in regard to their health, wellness, and well-being.