Drug abuse has always been a problem in college and is increasing every year. Students use drugs to relieve stress and take a break from the high demands of classes, but also to focus on their studies to learn the material they are taught. Substance abuse is the largest drug problem on college campuses. Alcohol is a drug and is included when drugs are mentioned. Drugs are so prevalent and widely used on college campuses across the country for various reasons, but it is important to reduce the amount of drug abuse by students. It is important to prevent substance and drug abuse by college students because it is affecting the safety, learning, and success of all college students in the nation. The consequences of substance and drug abuse can range from missing classes and tests, to sexual assault or even death. Each year, approximately 1,700 students enrolled in two- and four-year institutions die from alcohol-related causes, mostly due to automobile accidents (Barry and Cell 2-2). More than 600,000 students are hit or assaulted by another drinking student, while approximately 97,000 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or rape (Barry and cell 2-2). Sexual violence is a very serious problem on college campuses and many times goes unreported. This is due to the stigma created in college that reporting sexual assault is a bad thing. This is all about the perception or image of the institution, preserving future enrollments and money. Colleges and universities want to impress politicians, alumni, the media, community members, parents, and, most importantly, incoming freshmen, so they would like... middle of paper... on all the popular types of drugs among young people. Then, compare drugs to alcohol in terms of effects and why parents are afraid of their children trying them. Also discussed are ways to prevent young people from starting to take drugs and ways to spot early signs that might lead them to take drugs or demonstrate that they have started. I chose this source because I think it provides an accurate informative account of exactly what the drugs are. used, what their effects are and how they can be detected. I also think it is significant that parents know how to prevent their children from starting to use drugs or stop them from using before they become heavily addicted. This is important to my topic because it introduces prevention methods before college that can help protect them during college and reduce the amount of drugs on campus.