Kevin E. O'Grady, PhD¹, Amelia M. Arria, PhD², Tom Gray, MA², Dawn B. Fitzelle, MSW², Alex Scher¹, and Eric D. Wish, PhD². (1) Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, 1147 Biology/Psychology Building, College Park, MD 20740, 301-405-5902, ogrady@psyc.umd.edu, (2) Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR), University of Maryland, College Park, 4321 Hartwick Road, Suite 501, College Park, MD 20740

Excessive alcohol consumption is a serious problem on college campuses. The present study, using data from the College Life Study, examined illicit drug use among heavy drinkers. A survey was administered to 462 college students ages 18-25. Respondents indicated how many drinks per day they consumed on those days they drank alcohol, their lifetime and past-year drug use history, and their age at first use. Four groups of drinkers were created: non-drinkers (n=51); 1-4 drinks/day (n=182); 5-9 drinks/day (n=173); and 10+ drinks/day (n=56) – “heavy drinkers”. Heavy drinkers began drinking almost a year earlier (M=14.19) than the 5-9 drinks/day group (M=15.12) and more than two years earlier than the 1-4 drinks/day group (M=16.26), both ps < .005. Moreover, they were significantly more likely to have ever used every illicit drug – marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, hallucinogens, amphetamines, illicit prescription pain relievers, and illicit prescription stimulants – than the other three groups, and these differences were often substantial. For example, compared to students who drank 5-9 drinks/day, heavy drinkers were more than twice as likely to have used hallucinogens (OR=2.15, 95%CI = 1.01, 4.60) and cocaine (OR=4.89, 95%CI = 1.81, 13.19), and more than seven times as likely to have used ecstasy (OR=7.33, 95%CI = 2.49, 21.61) and amphetamines (OR=12.28, 95%CI = 3.53, 42.71). Finally, the other two drinking groups were much more similar to non-drinkers than to heavy drinkers with regard to past-year frequency of illicit drug use. These findings have important implications for designing effective prevention initiatives and treatment programs for college students identified as heavy drinkers.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the association between heavy drinking and college students and illicit drug use
• Understand the need for innovative prevention and intervention strategies to reduce alcohol and other drug use on college campuses

Keywords: Alcohol, Drug Abuse

Related Web page: www.cesar.umd.edu

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.