News-Letter

Many students flock South of the Border during spring break where the drinking age is 18 and poorly enforced. (Courtesy of httP://www.darkpillar.net/pictures.htm) [Click to enlarge]

Aruba, Jamaica, Bermuda, Bahama, Key Largo, Montego ... For the more musically inclined, these places may bring to mind a Beach Boys song. For others, they may simply conjure up images of sandy beaches, sunny days and wild nights ... perfect destinations for spring break.

In less than two weeks, Hopkins students will join hoards of other college students as they are set free for spring break.

For one week, they will not have to think about homework, papers, midterms or classes. They will not have to wake up in the morning or go to bed at night.

Anyone not excited by the idea of spending a week at home, usually choses to head south, where warm beaches await them.

This tradition has been encouraged in recent years by popular culture. MTV, for example, has an annual show devoted to their wild spring break parties.

Something which is obvious to all but the most jaded of parents is the drug and alcohol use on these trips.

Younger students frequently cross the border into Mexico, where the drinking age is 18, not 21, and is rumoured to be only loosely enforced.

While the dangers of alcohol and cigarettes have usually been drilled into the minds of college students, the threats of illegal drugs are not always as well known.

Many spring break goers may not realize the danger behind many popular drugs, especially ones bought from a friendly stranger while on vacation.

Weed, cannabis, Texas tea, pot, firewood, doobee, grass and herba are only a few of the synonyms for marijuana that are listed by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Whatever you call it, however, marijuana is marijuana. Its active ingredient is THC, short for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the short term effects of THC include memory and learning problems, distorted perception, difficulty thinking clearly, loss of motor control and increased heart rate.

The long-term effects include cancer, breathing problems and a weakened immune system.

Marijuana has these effects on the body is because it causes changes in the functioning of the brain, explains the NIDA.

The part of the brain that is influenced is involved in learning, memory and attention. The long-term effects on the brain are not fully understood by scientists and are similar to the effects of cocaine, heroin and alcohol.

People who are using marijuana for the first time or who are using an unusually potent form have the possibility of suffering from a particularly bad reaction.

According to the NIDA, this reaction could include acute anxiety or severe psychotic symptoms.

Additionally, these reactions are much more likely to occur when the marijuana is mixed with other drugs, something the user is not always aware of, especially in a setting such as spring break.

Another popular drug which has dangers that must be touched upon is ecstasy.

Ecstasy is a psychoactive drug that is scientifically referred to as MDMA, or methylenedioxy-methamphetamine.

The NIDA states that ecstasy has properties of both a hallucinogen and a stimulant, making it a particularly dangerous drug.

Ecstasy affects the user by releasing certain neurotransmitters in the brain. These neurotransmitters are normally present in very exact amounts in the brain and act as signals between cells.

However, ecstasy causes these neurotransmitters, namely serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, to be released from their storage areas and present in unusually high concentrations within the brain.

According to the NIDA, these neurotransmitters, especially serotonin, are normally involved in regulating mood, sleep, pain and appetite.

After using ecstasy, it takes the body a significant amount of time to rebuild the stores of these neurotransmitters and get their functioning back to normal levels.

Overall, ecstasy is a dangerous neurotoxin which has both short-term and long-term effects on the brain and its proper functioning to control the body.

At clubs and raves, where ecstasy is very commonly taken especially during spring break, it is often mixed with other drugs, making it even more risky to take.

Several groups including Drug Safe have testing kits at raves to ensure that your ecstasy tablets contain only MDMA and no other drugs. However, these kits are difficult to come by.

Besides alcohol and ecstasy, there are scores of other drugs abused during spring break, all of which have their own share of risks.

The NIDA names the major drugs which are abused nationwide as cocaine, heroin, prescription opiates, marijuana, methamphetamine, ecstasy and PCP.

Hopkins sophomore Caitlin Prior said, "The use of drugs on spring break is highly prevalent."

From her experiences, it is a time that many people do things they would not otherwise do, just because everyone else is doing it and society tells them they are supposed to be wild, crazy and irresponsible.

My advice for spring break would be to say no to drugs, however cliché that might sound. There are other ways to have fun, especially when a warm beach is involved.

Most of all, be safe, enjoy yourself and make responsible decisions. I don't think that's too much to ask of Hopkins students.

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