As the fall semester and college football season gets underway, University of Mississippi addiction specialists are reminding students to be mindful of alcohol and drug use.

“Society normalizes partying, drinking, using drugs as part of the college experience,” said Alysia Lajune, program manager for the William Magee Center for Alcohol and Other Drugs and Wellness Education. “It’s part of the boxes we feel we need to check when we go to college.”

A spring 2025 survey from the university’s William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing found that more than half of undergraduate students in Mississippi reported using harmful substances in the past month. About 53% said they drank alcohol, 20% reported using cigarettes or e-cigarettes, and 15% said they used recreational drugs.

While alcoh

See Full Page