Brown University - Drug Scene

Alcohol and cannabis are...

Alcohol and cannabis are noticeably embedded in social life at Brown, but there are plenty of people who use neither, and I don't think they are usually put under pressure from their peers to do so. But in any case, you get used to having long intellectual conversations with high people pretty fast.

Most Brown students are...

Most Brown students are responsible about drinking and drugs.

I’ve never been busted. You hear...

I’ve never been busted. You hear stuff like that happening. I think Brown is really cool. They definitely give you a lot of responsibility, and they’re pretty hands off. They expect students to make the right decision.

I think the policy is lax, and I...

I think the policy is lax, and I like it. I got in trouble once, but nothing came of it.

Here's a breakdown of the drug...

Here's a breakdown of the drug scenes, roughly in order of size. Alcohol: More people drink than don't, and freshman year, if you're not getting wasted every weekend, you're in the minority. Cigarettes: Brown is a hipster school. I think this says it all. The hipsters chain smoke, and it's not that common outside hipster circles, but there are a lot of hipster circles. Marijuana: Although it's not quite as prominent as alcohol, it's all over the place, and Brown doesn't really care. The quality generally sucks, particularly if you're used to the West Coast, NYC, Florida, or northern New England. Study Drugs: These aren't particularly prevalent until finals, then they're everywhere. Cocaine: You'll never see it until people realize that you don't care, but once they do, it's everywhere. It's just all behind closed doors. If you don't make the right (or wrong) friends, you'll go four years without ever seeing it. Psychedelic use is openly discussed, but cocaine's almost always done secretly. Mushrooms: They're pretty easy to get a hold of, and you'll be shocked by the number of people who have tried them by the end of senior year. Various prescription pills: There are a lot of doctors' kids at Brown. 'Nuff said. Ecstasy: It's usually available, and usually bunk. You'll have to search long and hard for anything good. Acid: It's available on and off, in varying quality—and is expensive. Other things pop up now and again, but for the most part, those are the drugs that you can expect to find at Brown. I've also seen 2Cs, opium, salvia, heroin (!), and various others, but they're not common.