General Knowledge of University Students About Recreational Use of Marijuana and Its Health Risks: Is There a Difference Between the Students in the College of Health Science and the General Campus Population?

Abstract

Background:

Dixie State University is a public comprehensive university in St. George, Utah. Dixie State is in the top three universities in the state of Utah for its diversity. The university offers 48 bachelor degrees, 19 associate degrees, 36 minors and 15 certificates/endorsements. Dixie had 8,993 students enrolled during the 2017-18 year. We chose this topic because of the growing legalization of recreational marijuana and to learn what the census on the harm of smoking marijuana is among general campus college students and health field college students.

Methods:

Institutional Review Board approval to distribute the survey among the college students was received. All the participants were students of Dixie State University. Obtained permission from professors at both the general campus at Dixie State and the College of Health Science through Dixie state, to distribute the surveys to their students. 140 were distributed to General campus students and 139 were distributed to the College of Health Science. With the intent to acquire an equal sample from each area.

Results:

With the growing number of states legalizing the use of recreational marijuana, the questions became: 1) Is it creating a population who will develop serious respiratory diseases? 2) Will these effects be seen sooner than with smoking cigarettes? 3) Is there danger in second hand marijuana smoke? The most interesting findings from the survey were as follows: The majorities on both campuses were in agreements in their belief that marijuana causes more lung disease. When asked if they would worry about lung disease if they smoked it, both campuses agreed that they would worry. One student commented, 'Not many studies on it, would like to be more informed and educated. ' When asked their opinion on the legal status of marijuana, both campuses disagreed that marijuana is a schedule 1 drug. Even though the FDA does classify marijuana as a schedule 1 drug.

Conclusions:

It seems clear that more education is needed on University campuses before the legalization of recreational marijuana.

1. Martinasek MP. A Brief History of Marijuana and its effects on the Respiratory System. AARC Times, April 2018.

2. Drug Enforcement Administration. Drug scheduling. Available at: http://www.dea.gov/druginfo/ds.shtml Accessed May 15, 2018. Acknowledgement: We would like to thank Dixie State University professors.