--- title: Number of College Students That Drink Alcohol and Smoke Pot description: A new report looks at how many college students drink alcohol and smoke marijuana on a given day. canonical: https://time.com/4349298/pot-alcohol-college-students/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-26T15:34:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:52:10.061Z article:section: Health og:title: Number of College Students That Drink Alcohol and Smoke Pot og:description: A new report looks at how many college students drink alcohol and smoke marijuana on a given day. og:url: https://time.com/4349298/pot-alcohol-college-students/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2900438998f18944/69889522a988cad4636b8032/binge-drank.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Friends Raising Toast og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Number of College Students That Drink Alcohol and Smoke Pot twitter:description: A new report looks at how many college students drink alcohol and smoke marijuana on a given day. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2900438998f18944/69889522a988cad4636b8032/binge-drank.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This is How Many College Students Drink Alcohol and Smoke Pot by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 26, 2016 3:34 PM UTC  Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 26, 2016 3:34 PM UTC On an average day, 1.2 million college students drink alcohol, [according to a new report](http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/report%5F2361/ShortReport-2361.html). The study, which surveyed about 25,400 full and part-time college students ages 18 to 22, also found that on an average day 703,759 college students used marijuana. The point of the report, which comes from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is to understand the prevalence of drinking and drug use among American college students. The study authors surveyed the students from 2011 to 2014 and found that nearly 10% of full-time college students say they drank alcohol for the first time in the past year, and 6% said they used illicit drugs for the first time. In total, on an average day, 2,179 full-time college students drink alcohol for the first time, 1,299 start using marijuana, 649 start using hallucinogens, 559 start the non-medical use of prescription pain relievers, and 447 start using cocaine. “College is a time when young people transition to adulthood, with many living independently and making behavioral health decisions without direct parental oversight,” the study authors write. “Substance use constitutes one of the most serious public health issues for young people in the United States.” You can read more about college students’ substance use, [here](http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/report%5F2361/ShortReport-2361.html). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4349298/pot-alcohol-college-students/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4349298/pot-alcohol-college-students/"},"headline":"This is How Many College Students Drink Alcohol and Smoke Pot","datePublished":"2016-05-26T15:34:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:52:10.061Z","description":"Lots of students try alcohol and drugs for the first time","url":"https://time.com/4349298/pot-alcohol-college-students/","keywords":["Research","Marijuana","Alcohol","Drugs","College Students"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2900438998f18944/69889522a988cad4636b8032/binge-drank.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2900438998f18944/69889522a988cad4636b8032/binge-drank.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Friends Raising Toast","caption":"Friends Raising Toast","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4349298/pot-alcohol-college-students/","name":"This is How Many College Students Drink Alcohol and Smoke Pot"}}]}] ```