“Society of extremes”: A psychologist’s take on drug use at Regis

(Photo: Jetset Minds)

By: Alanna Shingler, Editor

This is the final part of a three-part series to gain insight into the culture of drug use at Regis University.

               “Why do we want to escape?” is the real question, psychologist Laura Thompson asked when I sat down to talk with her. Thompson is a licensed professional counselor with a focus on substance abuse and I wanted to get her take on students’ relationship with drugs at Regis.

               “What people use says something about what they want to feel,” she explained. People who use uppers, like cocaine, might be feeling down or “in a funk” and are looking to feel. People who enjoy downers, like weed, often experience excess anxiety and smoke to feel okay or to simply not feel.

               She knows that the popular drugs at Regis are alcohol, marijuana, LSD, mushrooms, ecstasy, cocaine, Xanax, and Adderall. She admits that is hard to gauge drug use at Regis specifically, but research shows that college-aged students who are enrolled in school drink more than people their age who do not go to college.

               Currently, she has a grant to gain insight into students’ perceptions of drug use on campus. After surveying 200 students, she is finding that people think that their peers are smoking marijuana or using cannabis-related products way more than they actually are. In short, there appears to be a belief that “everybody’s doing it” that simply doesn’t hold up.

               We discussed the possibilities of use turning into abuse, which can certainly happen to the average college student. Thompson explained the spectrum of substance use, which ranges from abstinence to addiction. She talked about how she nearly always smells weed near campus when she walks to school in the morning. It makes her wonder, “How many people are mixing up cocktails before class in the morning?” and why do we view that differently than smoking weed to get through the day?

               Her theory is that because marijuana is now legal, people assume it is totally safe. In reality, research regarding marijuana is still in the “infancy stages”, so we have no way of knowing its long-term effects. She points out, “McDonald’s is legal, but it’s not good for you. If you eat McDonald’s every day over a lifetime, it won’t end well.” Thompson’s advice to anyone taking any drug is to adopt a “more holistic approach” and practice self-awareness when it comes to substance intake.

“You can definitely over do it”: Regis student gets real about acid

(Photo: Alamy Stock Photo)

By: Alanna Shingler, Editor

Note from the author: This is the second of a three-part series on Regis students’ interactions with drugs. It is highly important to me to relay Robyn’s* story without judgment and without blame. I want to sincerely thank Robyn for so authentically sharing her story with me.

               She had smoked three to five times a day since she was in high school, but during her sophomore year at Regis, Robyn had no choice but to quit marijuana completely. She was diagnosed with Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, a painful condition caused by heavy, long-term cannabis use.

               After spending ten days in the hospital, Robyn was told that she could never smoke again. Unsurprisingly, stopping all marijuana use cold-turkey was a less than pleasant experience for Robyn. The most difficult part was not being able to sleep without smoking, although she believes she would have had worse symptoms of withdrawal if she wasn’t in the hospital for so long. Feeling lost without weed, Robyn quickly discovered a new love: acid.

               So she got really into it. “I like the way it expands my mind. I know that sounds super cliche . . . but it honestly does,” she explained. I watched Robyn’s face light up when she told me about how much she enjoys reading while on acid. When she was still able to smoke, she loved reading when she was high. Now she savors the feeling she gets when she reads while coming down from a trip. To prove her point, she confessed she read David Foster Wallace’s novel, Infinite Jest twice to understand it better - once while sober and a once while on acid.

               Even though she enjoyed tripping, Robyn knew that too much of anything can turn be harmful. She took acid every couple of weeks for two months until she decided it was time to take a step back. The negative consequences of overusing drugs are observed in one of her roommates who
drinks, smokes, and trips on acid as often as possible (once a week or so). She considers him to be “severely depressed” and held back by his habits. “I saw what it did to (my roommate) and realized I don’t want to be the person who trips alone,” she disclosed.

               In retrospect, Robyn thinks it’s for the best that she has stopped smoking weed. And while she still enjoys acid, she stresses the importance of moderation. She reflects, “I think everyone does more than they should at some point. That seems to be an inherent human trait. It seems like almost everyone will take too much at some point before they realize they need to take a step back.”

*name changed to maintain anonymity

Regis student opens up about her relationships with alcohol and cigarettes

(Photo: Shutterstock)

By: Alanna Shingler, Editor

Note from the author: This is the first of a three-part series on Regis students’ interactions with drugs. Without judgment and without blame, the goal is to uncover the truth about who’s using, what they’re using, and why. Nora* is just one of thousands of undergrads at Regis and her story is unique to her. I would like to deeply thank Nora for her openness and willingness to share her story.

               It’s a Tuesday. She looks at her messy room. She feels the weight of the homework she still hasn’t done, the bills she needs to pay, the phone calls she should make. Her roommate pops her head in the door, “Should we black tonight?” “Yes.”

               Why do we drink? That is never the first question we ask. What about weed? And cigarettes? Kratom? All are perfectly legal to buy in Colorado. And for students living on or near a college campus, being underaged is nothing more than a small obstacle in acquiring these substances. I spoke with one Regis student who opened up about her relationships with substances - particularly alcohol and tobacco.

               Her freshman year, Nora experienced the all-too-familiar pressure of appearing a certain way around her peers. She remembers thinking, “Let’s dress a certain way, look a certain way, and drink a certain amount. That way we can have a good time.” Drinking acted a social lubricant and a vehicle for meeting new people. Nora noted, “I didn’t really ever blackout and I always went back to my dorm and felt safe.”

               Toward the end of her freshman year, however, Nora became more comfortable socially at Regis. She got a boyfriend, started smoking cigarettes, and was prescribed anti-anxiety medication. Instead of drinking for the social aspect, Nora started drinking with the intention of blacking out. She marks this time as a turning point in her relationship with alcohol, saying, “I felt like a broken person because I had to take meds . . . drinking became a lot more destructive.” This is when Nora began mixing substances - anxiety medication, cocaine, tobacco, and different types of alcohol all in one night. Not to mention, she and her boyfriend would often not eat during the day because they used Adderall to get as much schoolwork done as possible before going out at night.

               Nora dated her boyfriend for about a year and a half until they broke up, but her cigarette and alcohol habits stuck. She compares cigarette smoking to fidgeting: “Sometimes you don’t realize it, it just happens. I smoke cigarettes when I’m sober and when I’m drinking.” She drinks about five days out of the week and has found, “Sometimes it’s a beautiful thing. Sometimes it’s awesome,” but she warns, “If you are drinking with emotion you have to surround yourself with good people.”

               Now, Nora is a junior. She feels more comfortable with herself and her friend group. She emphasizes that she knows alcohol can be a negative factor in her life, but that she now knows that she does not need it to “numb” herself or to forget about the past. Nora finds it empowering to reflect on her relationship with alcohol and expresses, “Knowing I don’t want to go back to those days of full blacking out and substance abuse is a good thing.”

*name changed to maintain anonymity