On Wednesday afternoon, the Yale undergraduate student body received an email from Medical Director of Yale Health Michael Rigsby, addressing serious drug use on campus.
“Several recent incidents have raised our concern that use of drugs such as LSD, cocaine, and heroin is on the rise among college students, fueled in part by a mistaken belief that occasional use is really not that dangerous,” Rigsby wrote in the email. “To the contrary: All of these are powerful drugs with profound and potentially serious physical and psychological risks.”
Rigsby added that the negative effects of these drugs can be seriously amplified when combined with alcohol and marijuana use and other medications. He also warned that students with mental health issues may be more susceptible to these drugs’ effects.
Rigsby concluded the email by reminding students of resources they can use to deal with any drug-related issues.
“We’re not interested in blame or punishment,” he wrote. “We simply want to help.”
According to the 2012 National Survey on Drug use and Health, 21.3% of young adults aged 18 to 25 reported having used illicit drugs within the past month.