1. Use of Prescription Drugs Among Greek and Non-Greek Students
Scott York
Research Advisor:
Carrie Cook, Ph.D.

2. Purposes of the Study:
To assess the overall level of the use of prescription drugs among students,
To determine whether Greek affiliation is correlated with prescription drug use

3. Review of the Literature
There isn’t a lot on this topic yet.
What does other research show?
This is a newer phenomena in this age group
There is little health knowledge for nonmedical users
People aren’t concerned with this form of drug abuse
Where does Greek affiliation come in?
Better Networking
Higher trust between members
More time commitment resulting in more academic strain

4. Conceptualization of Prescription Drug Use
Prescription drugs are medications that are ordinarily prescribed by a medical doctor in order to treat a diagnosed ailment.
Illicit prescription drug use is the use of aforementioned medications outside of their prescribed purposes.

5. Types of Drugs Being Studied
Barbiturates (e.g., Quaaludes)
Amphetamines (e.g., Adderall)
Anabolic Steroids
Tranquilizers (e.g., Benzoids, Valium)
Opiates (e.g., Codeine, Demerol)

6. Crime Victimization Survey
Data Collection
Crime Victimization Survey
Data collection (3 semesters)
Classes randomly chosen
Surveys distributed to students
N = 586

7. Prescription Drug Use
Visually, a discrepancy appears to exist between Greeks and non-Greeks in use of amphetamines

8. Correlations
Greeks are significantly more likely than non- Greeks to report using amphetamines and steroids recently
Recent use of most types of prescription drugs is correlated with recent use of others (exceptions: steroids with amphetamines or tranquilizers)

9. Conclusions
Greeks are more likely to report recent use of 2 types of prescription drugs:
Amphetamines
Steroids
Why?
Easier to obtain
Higher trust
Party longer and study after

10. Acknowledgements
Georgia College and State University Department of Sociology and Government
Dr. Carrie Cook for her guidance throughout this process
A special thanks to Noelle Linville, Aimee Petit, Tamra Voll, James Gorton, and Samantha Riggs for their work toward survey distribution and data entry.
All the professors who allotted class time for us to distribute surveys.

11. Sources
Arria, A. M., Caldeira, K. M., O'Grady, K. E., Vincent, K. B., Johnson, E. P. and Wish, E. D. (2008), Nonmedical Use of Prescription Stimulants Among College Students: Associations with Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder and Polydrug Use. Pharmacotherapy, 28: 156–169. doi: 10.159
Center on Young Adult Health and Development. (2014, March 30). The Medicine Abuse Project. Retrieved from lert-Prescription+Drugs&utm_campaign=Teens+Under+Stress&utm_medium=
Herman, L., Shtayermman, O., Aksnes, B., Anzalone, M., Cormerais, A., & Liodice, C. (2011). The use of prescription stimulants to enhance academic performance among college students in health care programs. The Journal of Physician Assistant Education ,
Lo, C.,C., Monge, A.N., Howell, R.J., & Cheng, T.C.. (2013). The role of mental illness in alcohol abuse and prescription drug misuse: Gender-specific analysis of college students . Journal of Psychoactive Drugs,
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2014, March 17). Retrieved from NIH: 2/phco
Peralta, R. L. & Steele, J. L. (2010). Nonmedical prescription drug use among U.S. college students at a midwest university: A partial test of social learning theory. Substance Use and Misuse,