In honor of Red Ribbon Week, a seminar was held on alcohol and other drugs, Oct. 25 in the MSC ballroom.According to program coordinator Lydia Love, “The Red Ribbon campaign is recognized for a week to promote non-drug use. PVAMU joined 3,000 other universities to celebrate the Red Ribbon National Campaign.”
The seminar began with a discussion on marijuana. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana is a dry, shredded green/brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves of the hemp plant cannabis sativa and is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States.
An informative video titled, “Teens and Marijuana,” was shown. According to the video, marijuana is broken down slowly and can stay in your system from four weeks to a month. The primary effects are damage to the lungs, reproductive systems, reduction in testosterone levels, reduced sex drive, and disruption of the menstrual cycle. In some cases, there can be physical effects on the brain, such as short-term memory loss.
Darryal Williams, the alcohol and drug educator on campus, lectured on alcohol and its affects. Williams says, “Alcoholism is a progressive, primary and fatal illness.”
According to the Annual Review of Public Health, 1,700 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes. The review also states that 400,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 had unprotected sex and more than 100,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report having been too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex.
Williams also discussed depressants such as ecstasy, handlebars (muscle-relaxer), and volume. According to Williams, Hispanics are the leading users of inhalants such as cocaine, spray paint, white out and dry erasers. Williams also spoke about narcotics such as Vicodine.