Focus
November 9^ 1909
PBse9
Marijuana is readily
available to students
Dana Manley
JC 225
Jane, an Elon junior, has
been smoking marijuana for five
ye^. She has used the drug
occasionally in the past three
years at Elon.
"I don't consider myself a
pot-head’ because I really don't
smoke as much pot as people
^mk," she said. "I know of
people here who get high every
**^y — that's getting high every
iay fMT at least four or five years
and that's a lot."
"Jane" smokes marijuana to
put herself into a different frame
of mind and suggests the reasons
for using marijuana are similar to
^ reasons people drink alcohol.
On September 30.1988, 314
students in 14 classes at Elon
participated in a survey
J**ministered through the Center
Or Educational Research and
valuation at the University of
Carolina at Greoisboro.
I’m not surprised by the
^ults," said Jana Lynn Fields
aiterson. associate dean of
affairs. The results
***owed that alcohol is the most
Popular drug, followed by
*®^juana, tobacco and cocaine.
2l **ecn used by
- percent of students at EIcmi.
ilhin a month of the survey,
* percent of the students
^eyed had used cocaine. Other
gs, including marijuana, had
” used by 59 percent and were
"I know of people here
who get high every day
- that's getting high
every day for at least
four or five years -
and that's a lot.
Elon junior
currently being used by 34.1
percent of the students.
Resident Director Gina rimer
and Patterson are both certiiicd in
substance abuse counseling.
Patterson hopes students can be
counseled without going through
the judicial system. "A good
number of students on academic
suspension have gone through
our judicial system for alcohol,"
Psatterson said.
Students are being trained in
peer counseling for substance
abuse, including a planned
program called "reefer madness,"
which deals with marijuana.
In most cases freshman are
the leading group of substance
abusers, followed by sopho
mores, juniors and seniors.
Marijuana use declines after the
freshman year, rises again during
the senior year. PatterscHi said
the increase during the junior year
might be due to the laige number
of juniors who move off campus.
Marijuana is readily available
to Elon students. "Kevin," a
junior, buys marijuana from a
friend in Buriington. "I pay $35
or $45 for a quarter ounce, which
is usually what we buy," Kevin
said. "I can get it anytime I
want I could find some within
an hour."
"I always get it from friends
and usually for free. Most pec^ie
who smoke it are mcwe than
haj^y to ’turn you to a quick
hiL Sometimes I get it from my
hometown where a few of my
friends and acquaintances grow
and sell marijuana," Jane said.
"Claire," a freshman, smokes
marijuana occasionally when she
is not on campus. "It's different
from everyday life. You get
away from everything for
Plioto by William Hassell
awhile." she said.
Most students said they
smoke marijuana to get high.
The reason given second most
often was to feel good, followed
by relaxation, cclebniiing and to
be sociable.
"It*s really social." Kevin
said. It s used before you go
into a situation."
Mushrooms are slowly gaining popularity
Scott Kinkade
JC: 225
cy ^**shrooms. They grow
^^^here ~ in damp and moist
spots
® graveyards and under cow
ure. They are more easily
^^®^ble than marijuana and
because there are no
Mushrooms arc slowly
popularity on campus,
to Jana Lynn Helds
stud ^sociate dean of
^ ent affairs. “In our recent
^^8 research survey, which was
rcjJ fall 1988 -- our
**se to how inany people
have experimented with
hallucinogens — 14% of the 330
that were surveyed said they had
experimented with hallucinogenic
drugs, including mushrooms and
LSD in that category."
Mushrooms are mwe expen
sive than the cheapest form of
LSD, costing $40 for a quarter
ounce, said Billy, a student who
experiments with the drug. "An
8x10 ^eet of LSD costs $3. It
takes $10 to get a high from
mushrooms and is considered
safer, since LSD is of chemical
origin and mushrooms are of
natural origin.”
When intoxicated- l>y^ a '
mushnxHn, a perscHi feels in a
state of well-being. Other effects
are that lights are brighter and the
user becomes more awrre of
surroundings. He sees trails of
hands and wavy slow patterns of
motion. He laughs a lot and his
mind undergoes changes of
reah'ty.
The user starts to see
different points of view about
life; sometimes this becomes
very scary. "What you have to
do is accept responsibility of
yourself and to remember that
you have taken a drug and that
the effects will wear off in its
iime^ smd you wU be the'^sanie ^
person you were before your
trip." Billy said.
"That is true," Patterson
said. "A user of mushrooms
feels no side-effects. such as a
hangover from alcohol. Mush
rooms are non-addictive, but you
can suffer from stomach cramps
and eventual unconsciousness,
followed by death, if you are
poiscxied by eating the wrong
type of mushroom."
They look like regular
mushrooms, with a cap m top.
But how does a mushroom taste?
"Well to.be hoiMMt, it tastes
like cow mpurp |astc^," pilly ,
said. "What you have to do >s
roll up the cap, which is the
most psychoactive part of the
mushroom, and swallow it
whole, following a Coke or a
beer -- as long as you don't
encounter the horrible taste,
which is the downfall of the
mushroom."
Mushrooms leave the same
length of intoxication, about
eight hours, as LSD.
Because of the hallucino
genic effects of mushrooms,
Billy would like to tell a main
viewpoint of a user: "You did it
to yourself, so accept full
responsibility of what happens tp ,
you."