University of Colorado - BoulderDrug Safety Summary

Written by Sara K. Jordan

Sara K. Jordan

Hometown

Littleton, CO

Major

International Affairs

View all previous student authors

If you plan on spending four (or the average five) years in a haze, then this is the place. Whether smoking from a bong, blunt, or joint, Boulder has stores, suppliers, and fellow friends that are happy to comply. A fraction of this "stoner" scene can be attributed to those that wander aimlessly around campus smelling like reefer and sporting hemp gear. Yet, they can only be held accountable for a mere percentage. The reality is that the majority of people in Boulder smoke weed. Sorority girls buy sacks so they can share a laugh with their fraternity boyfriends. Snowboarders cough up enough money to buy enough to last them a weekend up in the mountains. Quiet creative writing majors and fumbling film students smoke together to get inspired.

Though marijuana is the preferred drug of choice, mushrooms, acid, and ecstasy are used occasionally and more often by the younger students who are still celebrating their newly acquired freedom. As students turn 21 and start entering the bar scene, there is a shift from hallucinogens to stimulants. Still, in its definition, this is merely a "scene," comprising only a portion of the student body. Although there is prolific drug use, students report that it is purely experimental and that it rarely interferes with academics.