Rhode Island School of DesignDrug Safety Summary

Written by Helen Koh

Helen Koh

Hometown

Chicago, IL

Major

Graphic Design/Painting

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The drug scene at RISD is something that exists behind closed doors. It’s definitely around, and if you look hard enough, you can find what you want, but most people don’t get mixed up in anything worse than pot, though there is some talk about the use of ‘shrooms. You will not find yourself at a party with loads of coke lines on the table or bags of pot around with smoking circles in every corner. If there is some drug use at a party, unless you are participating, you probably won’t even know about it because there are too many other students around dancing and talking without being under the influence of anything. Most students don’t even recognize the use of any hard drugs on campus.

There is a manageable amount of drinking around, but for most people, it’s not for more than one night a week. There is also a small section of students who abuse caffeine and prescription drugs in order to stay awake and continue work, but mostly that’s during finals. There is also a small population that smokes, but it isn’t a major issue on campus. The bottom line is that students work too hard to distract themselves with a lot of drugs and drinking. What they do is too important to them to throw away, and students who have been more into recreational use find themselves failing because they can’t keep up in class.