Addressing High-Risk Drinking and Cannabis Use

Access a number of reports and articles addressing high-risk drinking and cannabis use. 

Important Links

Scientists have made incredible strides in understanding the constellation of factors that give rise to excessive drinking and other health-risk behaviors, but the bottleneck has been in putting this knowledge to use on college campuses. Stanford is committed to implementing practical solutions to address these issues to promote the health, safety and success of our students. Again, we have turned to the research evidence to guide us in our selection of strategies.

Compiled here are research articles relevant to some of the key ways in which Stanford is addressing these issues (i.e., substance-free programming, empowering residence life professionals and screening and intervening in the health center). A natural reflex to addressing these issues is to provide more counseling services at the individual level. We need to ensure that counseling services are available when needed, but we also need to create meaningful interactions and environments to counterbalance some of the contemporary challenges facing our students. The best science tells us of the critical nature of the support systems in the environment that can bolster assets and reduce vulnerabilities. The best way of addressing these challenges is at the systems level, at the policy level, rather than at solely at the individual level. In short, strong systems, strong students.