Drug involvement during and after college: Estimates of opportunity and use given opportunity.
College students perceive widespread availability of drugs and prescription medications for non-medical use on campus, but less is known about the relationship between opportunity to use, use, and use given opportunity of these drugs during and after college. The current study describes annual trends in (1) opportunity to use, (2) use, and (3) use given opportunity of eight drugs and three prescription medications used non-medically over seven years.



Data were derived from a longitudinal cohort study of 1253 first-year college students (52% female, 72% non-Hispanic white) at one large, public university. Annually, past-year opportunity to use and use were assessed for marijuana, hallucinogens, inhalants, cocaine, ecstasy, amphetamines, methamphetamine, heroin, and non-medical use of prescription stimulants, analgesics, and tranquilizers. Binary variables were created to represent opportunity to use, use, and use given opportunity for each drug.



Participants had the greatest opportunity to use marijuana compared with other drugs during the study period, but there was a significant decline in the opportunity to use marijuana over time. Notably, opportunity for both drugs other than marijuana and prescription medications used non-medically consistently declined, while use given opportunity remained relatively stable over time.



These findings suggest that changes in drug use are driven by changes in opportunity to use, even during the post-college years. Greater opportunity to use and use of all drugs during the college years in comparison with the post-college years confirms the high-risk nature of the college environment.
Center on Young Adult Health and Development, University of Maryland School of Public Health, Department of Behavioral and Community Health, 2387 School of Public Health Building, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: hallen@umd.edu.
Hannah K
HK
Allen
Center on Young Adult Health and Development, University of Maryland School of Public Health, Department of Behavioral and Community Health, 2387 School of Public Health Building, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: caldeira@umd.edu.
Kimberly M
KM
Caldeira
Center on Young Adult Health and Development, University of Maryland School of Public Health, Department of Behavioral and Community Health, 2387 School of Public Health Building, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: bbugbee@umd.edu.
Brittany A
BA
Bugbee
Center on Young Adult Health and Development, University of Maryland School of Public Health, Department of Behavioral and Community Health, 2387 School of Public Health Building, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: kvincent@umd.edu.
Kathryn B
KB
Vincent
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland,3109 Biology-Psychology Building, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: ogrady@umd.edu.
Kevin E
KE
O'Grady
Center on Young Adult Health and Development, University of Maryland School of Public Health, Department of Behavioral and Community Health, 2387 School of Public Health Building, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: aarria@umd.edu.
Amelia M
AM
Arria
D000293:Adolescent; D000662:Amphetamines; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D015331:Cohort Studies; D055030:Drug Users / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006213:Hallucinogens; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D013334:Students; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
D000662:Amphetamines; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D006213:Hallucinogens; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs
College students; Drug use; Longitudinal studies; Opportunity to use; Substance use