Drug culture dominates Dartmouth.
Are you shocked by that statement? If we look beyond the stigma surrounding the discussion of drugs, it is clear that Dartmouth students operate in an environment governed by a dangerous drug: alcohol. Work hard, play hard, right?
"[Alcohol use] is highly ritualized to an extent that other institutions cannot even match," Stew Towle '12 said.
The overarching culture of open alcohol abuse contributes to the existence of a self-segregating "sub-culture" of other drug use, Towle said.
"It's its own distinct culture that exists in certain locations and nowhere else on campus," said a '13 female who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the subject.
Although she said that drugs are undeniably dangerous in excess, they can sometimes open up a forum for important discourse. Certain drugs, such as marijuana, she said, induce and maintain a collective consciousness that is very conducive to creating a "culture" or community.
This mindset can also result from the use of other drugs, according to a '13 male, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the subject.
"I've been on ecstasy with 25 of my closest friends," he said.
According to Towle, the use of a drug supports a cultural dogma, which is why drugs that fit into Dartmouth's fast-paced mentality are so popular here.
"People will call me a pot-smoking hippie, and I'll watch them blowing lines of Adderall, which is apparently okay because a doctor prescribed it," Towle said.
Because drugs used to treat ADHD, such as Adderall, are often used to help students complete their coursework, those drugs often bridge the gap from the drug "subculture" to the mainstream.
"There are people, like myself, [who] can do drugs and maintain perfect balance," said a '13 male who wished to remain anonymous. "I still produce very good work if I have to write a paper, I'll take two Adderall. If it's time for bed and I'm cracked out, I'll take my benzos."
A self-described "functional drug user," this '13 male described the papers he wrote while using cocaine as "out of control, but amazing," and attributed the widespread use of stimulants and depressants to Dartmouth's "work hard, play hard" atmosphere.
The existence of a Dartmouth "drug culture" was noted by all students interviewed, but its nature is disputed, even by those in its midst. Some, like Towle, asserted that its existence is more a phenomenon present across affiliations and clubs rather than a community in its own right. Without a doubt, drug use occurs within many organizations on campus, but is often pushed underground due to illegality and a general stigma attached to openly admitting drug use.
"It's not beautiful, it's not like sharing a joint, talking and philosophizing," said an anonymous '13 male about his own cocaine use. "It's sad. It's sitting in frat brothers' rooms, staring at a mirror shard and waiting for a line."
Distinctions between use and abuse make navigating drug use dangerous just as figuring out what is "fun" and what is enabling is a problem that persists in the more "mainstream" drinking realm.
"I think I have a pretty relaxed attitude about drugs, but there are rules for every sort of conduct," Olivia Dahl '14 said.
Dahl referred to the dangerous tendency of students to mix antidepressants, speed and MDMA, or even go off their antidepressants to have a better "drug experience."
Accounts of individual use aside, it seems that drug use at Dartmouth does create a type of subculture, which can be found both within and apart from "mainstream Dartmouth." Whether a counterculture rooted in communal experience or in abuse and ex-post rationalizations, drug use creates an interesting niche on campus, both creating and maintaining a particular sense of place.
