Consumption of Alcohol and Marijuana Associated with Lower College GPAs

College students who consume medium to high levels of alcohol and marijuana have a consistently lower GPA according to a study published in the OPEN Access Journal from Hartford Hospital.  Alcohol and marijuana are two most abused substances amongst college and high school students in the US.  Data was used from the Brain and Alcohol Research in College Students study, which tracked 1142 students for two years after they began college.  The students were grouped into students with one group that used low amounts and another group of medium to high users.

The students that were medium to high users of both substances not only had lower GPAs following that semester but also continued to achieve lower throughout the two years of the study. This showed that the effects of the use of these narcotics had long term effects. The study also showed that doing a lot of both drugs had a significant impact on academic study and poorer grades than once imagined.

These studies are congruent with other studies that adolescent students with the use of marijuana and alcohol.  Both groups of students displayed low academic achievement with the use of marijuana and alcohol resulting in students dropping out of school or being unable to graduate on time .  Many tend to think that marijuana is safer to abuse than alcohol however further studies indicate otherwise.