A nationwide survey of drug use among third-level students was started yesterday by the Union of Students in Ireland. The survey, the first of its kind in the State, will attempt to assess the level of drug use among the student population, the type of drugs used and the level of information on drug use currently available to students. About 1,000 will be surveyed and the results are expected within six weeks.
Mr Colman Byrne, president of USI, said increasing numbers of young people, particularly those from urban backgrounds, were entering college with some experience of drug use. The six drugs most commonly used by students were LSD, magic mushrooms, speed, cannabis, ecstasy and alcohol, he said.
Mr Byrne also said the nature of drug use at third level meant it was students who were supplying fellow students with drugs. "We definitely see it being done like that," he said. "It's people within the college community, students selling drugs to students."
Mr Byrne said the information obtained from the survey would be made available to State agencies and would also be used to make USI's own drugs awareness campaign more effective.
Previous surveys of drug use among students have concentrated on individual colleges. A survey of cannabis use among a cross-section of 150 students in UCD, to be published in the University Observer newspaper this week, found that 60 per cent of all students surveyed had smoked cannabis. A survey of almost 400 students in the Dublin Institute of Technology in April 1997 revealed that 64 per cent had tried illegal drugs at some point.
The start of the survey coincided with the relaunch of USI's Drugs Awareness Campaign to specifically target first-year students. The campaign lists, in a straightforward, "non-judgmental" way, the facts about a number of drugs.
"If students have proper information on drugs, they can make an informed choice," said Mr Noel Clarke, USI's welfare officer. "By adopting harm-reduction methods we are not advocating the use of drugs. However, we are giving students the means to make an informed decision."