Drug and Alcohol Use by Student Athletes
             Student athletes' use of substance abuse is major issue in the world of sports. Does the old theory stating that student athletes tend to stay away from drugs and alcohol hold true today? From my personal experience as a former high school athlete, I doubt this is true. With the many records of student athletes being arrested for alcohol and drug abuse, substance abuse has truly become a problem. The studies available show the correlation of usage between student athletes and the general student population? Hopefully, this information would be helpful in setting up a drug prevention program at the high school and middle school level. If so, maybe society could improve its efforts at alleviating this problem.
             Many of these problems underly in the attitudes of these athletes. Of the athletes who are considered at risk of using substance abuse, seventeen percent of the athletes felt that marijuana use was an acceptable way to deal with the pressures of athletics. Instead of abstaining from use due to health risks, many refrain from drug use simply due to the fear of getting caught. Peer pressure from teammates is also indicated as a major influence as to whether or not athletes use or avoid drugs. When do high school athletes have time to partake in substance abuse? Overall, athletes are using alcohol less both in the in-season and off-season compared to previous years. Moreover, they used less alcohol during their in-season than off-season. Studies have even shown that white athletes are two and half times more likely to be at risk of using alcohol than black athletes would.
             Why are college athletes at risk for drug abuse and effective drug treatment programs? Many college athletes feel that the programs should at least try to improve the overall health of the student athlete along with the deterring drug use. In addition, the drug education programs such as DARE should ...