The Reality of Drug Use Among University Students

By Aoife Cleary

For many, university is a time for new experiences, befriending new social groups, and putting yourself miles out of your comfort zone, which is certainly true for someone like myself from a small town who had only experienced the very best nightlife that Fermanagh had to offer. The scene of two nightclubs mostly populated by GCSE students was a far cry from the Belfast university nights that I would go on to make a daily occurrence in my first year.

The first time I ever entered the hallowed halls of everyone’s favourite gay-turned-straight club, Kremlin, it didn’t take 30 minutes to be introduced to just how relaxed the offering of poppers or other ‘friendly’ drugs was. To an uninformed, slightly sheltered and unbearably shy 18-year-old, anything beyond the realm of alcohol immediately made me incredibly uncomfortable and reminded me of my school’s or relatives’ countless warnings about ‘watching myself’ when moving to the city.

However, throughout the three long years that I have been a student in Queen’s University, throughout numerous nights and numerous friend groups, the sensationalised persona surrounding the big scary word has all but withered away. When drug use is portrayed as something to be wary of or something to judge, it is enveloped into a category of the unknown- famously the most enticing category of them all, especially to first-time users, who very often are students trying to experience all that they can in their first year.

While this is only one mere opinion or my first-hand experience, university students may actually be one of the least likely groups in their age cohort to regularly use drugs, according to a 2024 research study by Universities UK. They found that only 12% of 4,000 UK students had admitted to using drugs in the past year, while 18% of non-students in England and Wales, and 23.5% in Scotland, had done the same [1]. Therefore, we cannot paint a picture of drug-fuelled freshers nights without facing the reality of the causes behind young peoples’ continued drug use.

Knowing this, it is fair to ask the question, why are we so concerned with the normalisation of drugs in university circles, but not with the rapid growth of repeated drug use in a general sense for non-students? Instead of placing the blame on one group and generalising their experiences, should we instead take a look into the reasons behind repeated drug use and why it affects young people in this individualised way?

That might be a lot to ask and a lot to think about, but from a university standpoint, the zero-tolerance drug policies just do not seem to be working anymore, if they ever did. It may seem like a basic concept to state that banning something will make it more attractive, but this idea makes zero tolerance policies effectively redundant and dangerous in university campuses.

This was especially true in the case of 18-year-old student, Jeni Larmour, who suffered an overdose that killed her on her first day at Newcastle University [2]. Her mother Sandra stated that her loss had implored her to do her own research on the state of drug use policy in university, leading her to champion a harm reduction approach that emphasises education and support for students who may be suffering and fear there is nowhere to turn. It also implores students to check the contents and strength of substances, as many fatal circumstances stem from unknown illicit substances that can be sold without any checks.

As many universities across the UK, including Queen’s University, begin to take on a drug and alcohol harm reduction approach [3], it is clear that educating and providing help to those that may suffer heightened consequences, such as those who already battle with mental health conditions, is the brightest way forward. Instead of a community that hides from the reality of drug use and shuns it, placing the blame on victims, a more accepting policy can hopefully allow students and young people to enjoy their university experience without unnecessary tragedy and loss.

Drug use in university is anything but black and white and cannot be wished away by fear and a culture of silence. It also cannot be limited to conversation only in student circles, and must be tackled with every age group, race and gender, as addiction and loss can affect just about anyone.

[1] Weale, S. (2024). UK universities urged to end drugs zero tolerance and focus on harm reduction. [online] the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/02/uk-universities-urged-to-end-drugs-zero-tolerance-and-focus-on-harm-reduction.

[2] Watson, A. (2025). Newcastle student’s mum says Ketamine should be class A. BBC News. [online] 11 Jan. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cge9ev779npo.

[3] Queen’s University Belfast (2024). Queen’s adopts new evidence-based approach to support students around drug and alcohol use. [online] https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/2024/new-evidence-based-approach-drug-and-alcohol-use.html.