INDIANA, PA. – In 2015, Indiana saw 242 drug-related hospital emergency room visits, according to usdrugtrends.com. Of those admissions, 69 were attributed to heroin usage. Xanax and cocaine were second and third most common, Xanax, a prescription medication used to treat anxiety and panic disorders, accounting for 35 visits and cocaine for 30.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) Marketing senior John H. Jones, 21, said he does not believe there is a significant drug problem in Indiana, counting both the student and resident population together.
“Where I’m originally from [Uniontown, Pa], there is a drug problem. When I go home, I consistently see drug users and drug-related arrests. If Indiana had a drug problem, the police force would crack down much more than they already do, because that’s how it is in my hometown,” Jones said.
Jones, although not a drug dealer, is a casual drug-user himself, smokes marijuana habitually and has experimented with multiple drugs on multiple occasions in college, including cocaine, hallucinogens and the abuse of prescription medications. He said he has witnessed — and participated in on multiple occasions — the use of illegal drugs among IUP students. A few specific drugs remained off the list of those he was interested in experimenting with:
“I’ve seen countless students abuse Percocet more times than I can count, and I’ve seen a few students [inject] heroin; neither of which I’m interested in trying,” Jones said. Excluding his daily use of marijuana, Jones said that he uses drugs approximately 9-11 times each month, mostly Thursday-Sunday. He said that he has noticed a very minuscule, negative change in his grade point average, attributed to his recreational use of drugs, but overall has not shown a significant change in his academic status as an IUP student. He believes that his consistent use of marijuana helps him to concentrate on academic responsibilities rather than hinder his ability to succeed, although he has noticed that it is not always that way for some students.
“The heaviest drug users are the people that are not here anymore. I don’t consider myself to be a heavy user and I’m very responsible about my drug use,” Jones said. “I’ve noticed marijuana is different. “I’ve seen people who are stoners (habitual marijuana users) do awful in class; I consider myself a stoner and I do great in class. it just varies from person to person when it comes to marijuana.”
As a college senior looking back at his freshman year at IUP, Jones said the popularity of drugs among students has shifted based on substance.
“When I was a freshman, everybody was abusing prescription pill medication, and a lot of them became zombies and dropped out of school,” Jones said. “A lot of students are doing cocaine now, it seems. The easiest drug for students to get, though, is Adderall. Students can get Adderall easier than they can marijuana most of the time.”
Ann Sesti, the assistant director of IUP’s Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs department located within IUP’s Center for Health and Well-Being, said that it is difficult for the IUP campus administrators to successfully conduct a survey regarding student drug use and be confident in their results.
“Individual in-class surveys given to each student is ideal, but doesn’t happen,” Sesti said, referring to a recent survey regarding student drug usage administered exclusively to IUP students living in on-campus residence halls. “In the 2014-2015 academic year, approximately 550-680 students completed the survey, but the problem is that I’m not sure that the students who are doing the drugs are the same students who are taking the surveys.” [the variation between the aforementioned figures is because not all students that completed the survey answered all of the survey questions].
In IUP’s 2014-2015 academic year, out of all on-campus residence hall students who completed the survey:
● 13.6% of students surveyed said that they have smoked marijuana since attending IUP.
● 1.1% of students surveyed said that they have consumed cocaine since attending IUP.
● 0.3% of students surveyed said that they have consumed heroin since attending IUP.
● 2.5% of students surveyed said that they have consumed Adderall since attending IUP.
Sesti, who sat at her desk with exceptionally professional composure and stature, responded to the interviewers’ questions with a positive tone with every answer she gave. “I have not heard of a heroin overdose of a traditional, on-campus student in a long time,” said Sesti, a state-licensed professional counselor. “IUP is no different than any other community when it comes to issues like this.”
Sesti, who has been the assistant director of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs branch of IUP’s health center for 25 years, received both her undergraduate in psychology and graduate degree in counseling psychology from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, located in Slippery Rock, Pa.
According to the Pennsylvania State Coroner’s website, 30 percent of drug users in Indiana are aged between 20-30 years; 40 percent are between 41-50; 10 percent is attributed to individuals 31-40, with the remaining 20 percent are 51 and older.
The state of Pennsylvania reported increasing numbers of drug usage and substance abuse. In 2012, Pennsylvania’s healthcare professionals dispensed more than 250 million prescriptions for painkillers, making it the 14th most popular state in the nation for prescription drug overdoses, according to a 2015 article on drugtreatment.com. Heroin was reported as the most common drug identified in toxicology test results in Indiana County for 2014. For the 58 counties that reported drug-related overdose deaths in 2014, heroin was identified the most in 48 counties.
Last year, 242 drug-related hospital emergency room visits were reported in Indiana, Pa. The Indiana Gazette on March 24 described this as evidence of a local “drug scourge.”
To Get Involved:
For more information about this story, or to get involved in the issues reported here, contact the following sources:
The Open Door
665 Philadelphia St.
The Atrium, — 2nd floor
Indiana, Pa. 15701
Phone: 724-465-2605
Crisis: 800-333-2470
Fax: 724-465-2610
Web: http://www.theopendoor.org
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs Program
Center for Health and Well-Being
Suites on Maple East, Suite G59
901 Maple Street
Indiana, Pa. 15705
Phone: 724-357-1265
Fax: 724-357-4457
Email: atod-oasis@iup.edu
Web: http://www.iup.edu/atod/
Armstrong-Indiana-Clarion Drug and Alcohol Commission
Indiana Office
665 Philadelphia St.
Suite 007
Indiana, Pa.
Phone: 724-463-7860
Fax: 724-801-8570
Web: http://www.aidac.org/index.php
The Counseling Center
Suites on Maple East, G31
901 Maple Street
Indiana, PA 15705
Phone: 724-357-2621
Fax: 724-357-7728
Web: http://www.iup.edu/counselingcenter/
Qualtrics Research Survey, Responses
On April 20, a 15-question survey regarding student drug usage was emailed to 1000 undergraduate students at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The survey is still in progress, and the final results are still pending. The survey was displayed as follows:
The survey below uses the phrase “illegal drugs” to mean substances that in Pennsylvania are illegal to possess or strictly regulated to consume. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse describes common illegal drugs to include marijuana, heroin, cocaine, amphetamines and methamphetamines, and club drugs. Alcohol, consumed legally or underage, is not included among the illegal drugs referred to on this survey.
Please specify your gender.
Male
Female
I Prefer Not To Answer
What is your current class standing?
Freshman
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Graduate Student
Have you used illegal drugs prior to attending IUP?
Yes
No
Have you used illegal drugs since attending IUP?
Yes
No
How often do you use illegal drugs?
Never
1 to 5 times a month
6 to 10 times a month
More than 10 times a month
Other (Please specify)
During your enrollment at IUP, have you consumed marijuana?
Yes
No
During your enrollment at IUP, have you consumed hallucinogens (mushrooms, LSD, etc.)? Yes
No
During your enrollment at IUP, have you consumed cocaine?
Yes
No
During your enrollment at IUP, have you consumed heroin?
Yes
No
During your enrollment at IUP, have you consumed prescription medications without a prescription?
Yes
No
Have you ever sold illegal drugs while at IUP?
Yes
No
Do you know IUP students who have voluntarily or involuntarily withdrawn from IUP because of illegal drug use?
Yes
No
Have you gone through a treatment program for drug use while attending IUP? Yes
No
Has drug use adversely affected your IUP grade point average?
Yes
No
Have you ever been charged with illegal drug use by authorities of the university or of the local police?
Yes
No
If you have questions about this story or our investigation, please contact Professor Loomis at doloomis@iup.edu or phone the IUP Department of Journalism & Public Relations at 724-357-4411.
Editor’s Note: Patrick Crossan contributed to this report.
Keith Hudak 