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Views from the Field are brief articles offering federal, national, state, and local perspectives about drug misuse in higher education from across the nation.
I was barely old enough to order a beer when I found myself being deployed to Iraq. This was post-9/11 so to say tensions were high is an understatement at best. I was thrown right into the deep end.
As coalition leaders of Missouri Partners in Prevention, Missouri’s higher education substance misuse consortium dedicated to creating healthy and safe college campuses, we get asked a lot about what the most effective way is to create change on campus.
As a former campus police officer, I have seen firsthand how instrumental training in substance misuse and mental health is for all professionals working in postsecondary settings.
As the Drug Director for the state of Arkansas, I have the responsibility of overseeing all state-funded substance prevention, substance treatment, and substance recovery activities and programs; advising the governor’s office on drug and alcohol policy issues; overseeing the (fiscal) funding of 19 drug task force units in Arkansas; and overseeing the Arkansas Alcohol and Drug Abuse Coordinating Council.
Alcohol. Marijuana. Opioids. Vaping. It is not a secret that misuse of these substances and others is a very real, and in some cases, a growing threat on college campuses nationwide.
Though institutions of higher education who accept federal funds must remain compliant with the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act—meaning that use and/or possession of cannabis, in any form, or possession of any paraphernalia, will not be tolerated on campus—state retail cannabis laws and regulations are continuing to change.
Within the broad scope of the public health approach, there are many arenas in which trained peer educators can serve as allies to assist in our drug misuse prevention and intervention efforts.