Alcohol and Drug End of Year Report 2024 – 2025 Academic Year & Drug Free Schools and Communities Act Yearly Report August 2025
Stanford Alcohol and Drug Program
Vision
A Stanford community that fosters inclusion by promoting a safe, lively, and responsible social living and learning environment, taking into account the diverse population of students and varying levels of student development.
Mission
Mitigate high-risk alcohol and other drug usage and their related harms among Stanford students by utilizing health promotion principles through collaborative, cutting-edge, empirically-proven educational strategies and programs.
Objectives
- Deliver impactful alcohol and drug education and risk reduction program across campus.
- Consult, advise and offer resources to campus partners on substance use issues.
- Create outlets and space for students that deemphasize substance abuse and promote resilience and recovery.
- Shift campus culture away from binge drinking and drug use.
- Collect data to assess trends and evaluate needs on an ongoing basis.
- Empower students to build a campus culture encompassing safety, flourishing and wellness.
SUPER Is a Comprehensive Office That Manages:
- 5-SURE on Foot Safe Walks Bystander Intervention Program
- 5-SURE Safe Rides Program
- Party Planning Education and Training
- Cardinal Recovery Program
- Well House Substance-Free Programming
- Parent Education and Outreach
- Peer Health Education (PEERs Program)
- Education and Outreach Services
- 1:1 sessions
- High-risk group education
- Trainings and workshops
- Online education
Policies and AOD Efforts
Comprehensive information on policies and AOD efforts is sent to all Stanford students, faculty, staff and affiliates via the Stanford Department of Public Safety Annual Safety, Security, and Fire Report.
The reports contains:
- AOD program vision, mission and goals
- Outline of AOD programs and outreach services
- Program evaluation data
- Program usage and impact figures
- Trends and high-risk concerns tracking
- Health effects of alcohol and drugs
Alcohol & Drugs Effects
| Drug Type | Examples | Effects | Risks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | Beer, wine, hard liquor | Depressant - slowed central nervous system functioning; impairments in reaction time, judgment, coordination and memory | Dependency Overdose Accidents Death |
| Cannabis | Marijuana products (joints, blunts, edibles, tinctures, wax, etc.) | Distorted sense of time, space, memory and impaired coordination | Dependency Accidents |
| Stimulants | Cocaine, methamphetamine, nicotine | Increase central nervous system functioning. Elevated heart rate, hyperactivity, agitation, exhaustion, anxiety and depression | Dependency Overdose Death Accidents |
| Hallucinogens | LSD, acid, mushrooms | Distorted sense of reality, time, space, perceptions and sensations. | Dependency Psychosis Accidents |
| Prescription drugs | Pain medications, stimulant medications | Over exaggerated effects of the medications. Feelings of euphoria. Impairments in reaction time, judgment, coordination and memory. | Dependency Overdose Accidents Death |
Alcohol & Drugs Effects and Resources
Framing the Issue
- Stanford continues to address the concerning issues of binge drinking and drug use in a proactive and expansive manner with dedicated programs, education and resources. The university approach includes prevention, early intervention, treatment and recovery support.
- For alcohol, the university is most concerned with mitigating binge drinking and its related consequences such as blackouts, hangovers, and regretted actions.
- Considerable attention and education has been placed on drug education including fentanyl and prescription drugs - including campuswide naloxone trainings, fentanyl test strip distribution and harm reduction programs and services. Naloxone and fentanyl test strip kits are now available in all undergraduate and graduate residences.
- The university has put recommendations from the 2019 Alcohol Solutions Group (ASG) report into action.
- Surveys on alcohol and drug use behaviors and attitudes are conducted regularly with undergraduate students and the 2019 and 2022 data is publicly available here. Survey data was collected again in spring of 2025 and will be available in the fall quarter 2025.
Progress and Initiatives
- The Office of Substance Use Programs, Education & Resources (SUPER), is doing increased education, substance-free events and direct service programming with four full-time professional and three paraprofessional staff . The office also employs about 70 student workers across its various prevention programs. This year SUPER employed 20 student peer health educators to conduct alcohol and drug education and recovery support.
- A revised Student Alcohol and Other Drug policy was launched on September 1, 2022 and includes a detailed implementation process, protections for Good Samaritans, and a sexual violence provision.
- Stanford offers a substance-free and wellness living option for upper-class students at The Well House. The house is a popular living-learning option for students.
- SUPER manages the 5-SURE Safe Rides program that run 8pm-2am seven nights a week and launched a new app-based ride request system for easier access and efficiency.
- SUPER continues to manage the widely utilized 5-SURE on Foot program, which offers safe walks home and in-the-moment check-in on weekend nights in high-traffic party areas of campus.
- Cardinal Recovery, collegiate recovery community, is providing peer support and services to students in recovery. Recovery meetings, sober events and support services anchor the program.
- Over 92 percent of first-year students completed online alcohol, drug education the summer before they matriculated.
- Naloxone and fentanyl test strips were made available in all undergraduate and graduate residences with ChemX shelves.
Substance Use Policies and Processes
Student Alcohol and Other Drugs Policy
Launched: September 1, 2021
- Contains a Good Samaritan provision
- Expands policy on other drugs
- Articulates sexual violence reporting and exemption from disciplinary action
- Outlines process for implementation and consequences
Stanford Group Accountability Process
Launched: January 2022
- Defines collective responsibility for groups
- Outlines due process and levels of review
- Expands jurisdiction to residences
Substance Use Programs and Services Impact Reports and Data
5-SURE Safe Rides Program
The 5-SURE Safe Rides program maintains a fleet of 3 cars and two golf carts and continued to see strong ridership numbers. Student staff continued to offer safe rides 7 nights a week, 8pm-2am (service ran 5pm-2am winter and spring of 2023 as a pilot). Ninety-five percent of passengers are female and ridership continued to be heaviest Wednesday to Saturday.
| Academic Year: | 2017 - 2018 | 2018 - 2019 | 2019 - 2020 | ^2021 - 2022 | **2022 - 2023 | ^^2023 - 2024 | 2024 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total completed calls: | 6,847 | 6,987 | 4,020 (no spring) | 2,361 | 8,064 | 10,196 | 9,987 |
| Total passengers: (non-unique) | 10,496 | 10,161 | 5,770 (no spring) | 3,456 | 11,815 | 14,108 | 12,705 |
5-SURE Safe Rides numbers are taken from call logs, online reservations and driver reports.
* Service did not run 2020 -2021 academic year due to COVID-19.
^ 2021-2022 impacted by several weeks of limited activity periods due to COVID-19.
** Service operated 5pm-2am for winter and spring quarters as a pilot.
^^ Hours expanded to begin service at 8pm, instead of 9pm.
5-SURE on Foot Bystander Intervention Program
The 5-SURE on Foot Bystander Intervention program student workers offered safe walks, snacks and water in high-traffic party areas every weekend during the academic year. Program evaluation results show strong support and positive community impacts related to safety, trust and student well-being. Utilization numbers continue to show strong participation and the program remains very popular among students.
| Academic Year: | 2017 - 2018 | 2018 - 2019 | 2019 - 2020 | 2021 - 2022 | 2022 - 2023 | 2023 - 2024 | 2024-2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total contacts: | 21,502 | 20,429 | 14,162 (no spring) | 20,641 | 33,957 | 37,391 | 25,685 |
| Total walks home: (non-unique) | 169 | 160 | 50 (no spring) | 93 | 85 | 71 | 64 |
5-SURE on Foot numbers are taken from student staff nightly reports, snacks/water distributed and head counts.
* Service shifted to COVID-19 health advocates in 2020 -2021 academic year handing out masks.
Education & Outreach Programs
The education and outreach services provided by the Office of Substance Use Programs, Education & Resources (SUPER) continue to be widespread and extensive, targeting a broad range of individual students, student group and student leaders.
Highlights from this past year included:
- SUPER educated thousands of students on alcohol and drug issues, facilitating 33 in person trainings with 3697 student attendees. SUPER offered 4 online alcohol and drug curricula – 2368 online student learners completed multiple trainings amounting to 5970 completed online trainings.
- Trained nearly 600 student residential leaders on alcohol and drug education and emergency response, including dedicated training on fentanyl and naloxone.
- Met individually with 214 students for alcohol and drug educational sessions using BASICS and other harm reduction modalities.
- Worked with the Dean of Students Office to provide expertise in case management of Student Alcohol & Drug Policy violations.
PEERs Health Educators
The PEER health educator program is a group of 15 highly trained student health educators who take a holistic and preventative approach to a variety of public health topics – areas of expertise include substance use, sexual citizenship, mental health and the intersections between them. PEER stands for Prevent, Educate, Empower & Refer.
Highlights from this past year included:
- Offered 56 educational workshops and outreach events across campus on a variety of health and well-being subjects and had a total of 1,684 contacts.
- Provided 1,494 direct service hours to the community for outreach education, training
- Ran Fentanyl Awareness Day activities (including naloxone training) to over 250 participants.
- Co-hosted Dry January Pledge campaign with Cardinal Recovery with 110 students participating.
- Trained in a 2-unit academic training class (PEDS 116: Peer Education & the Campus Culture) offered in the Spring 2024 quarter.
ChemX/SUPER Partnership
ChemX is a harm reduction initiative addressing the fentanyl epidemic among young adults and college students, aiming to keep friends alive by promoting drug safety and testing. ChemX provides innovative and proactive fentanyl test kits in a community-first approach, coupled with harm-reduction education centered around creating a supporting community of educated drug safety allies.
- SUPER partnered with Housing to install shelves stocked with naloxone and fentanyl test strip kits in all undergraduate and graduate residences.
- All incoming first-year students, resident assistants and peer educators were trained on naloxone use.
- Bi-weekly training offered at the Well House.
- 4,501 fentanyl test kits distributed.
- 1,463 units of naloxone distributed.
The Well-House: Substance-Free Social Living Program
The substance-free and wellness themed Well House provides a space for students to live in a shared, intentional substance-free community. An environment based upon holistic approaches to physical, mental, and emotional health, the house served as a safe space for students in recovery and fostering allies.
- The house offered over 50 substance-free events for residents and other students during the year providing a safe and substance-free space for thousands of attendees (non-unique).
- Residents report high levels of satisfaction, increased levels of connection and reduced stress levels.
Cardinal Recovery
Cardinal Recovery is Stanford’s collegiate recovery community for students in substance and other behavioral/process addictions. It provides support, community, sober events and resources across campus.
- Cardinal Recovery has community of nearly 1500 who get weekly communications about meetings, support, sober events and resources.
- Weekly recovery meetings are offered multiple times a week across campus with some offered at the Well House and Rogers House.
- Held 189 outreach events that directly reached 4,684 students while providing 1,607 direct service hours to the community including the Dry January Pledge campaign co-sponsored with the PEERs program with 120 students participating.
- Hosted 82 sober events that benefited 1,189 attendees including the popular Sober Super Bowl and Sober Tailgate events.
- Cardinal Recovery worked to increase the offerings of AA, Al-Anon, Cannabis Moderation and Smart Recovery meetings on campus.
Stanford Party Registration and Approval Figures 2024-2025 AY
Stanford Parties Historical AY Data
- Total Parties AY 2024-25: 395
- Total Parties AY 2023-24: 509
- Total Parties AY 2022-23: 504
- Total Parties AY 2021-22: ^613
- Total Parties AY 2020-21: No registered parties held due to COVID-19 pandemic
- Total Parties AY 2019-20: *624
- Total parties AY 2018–19: 975
- Total parties AY 2017–18: 831
- Total parties AY 2016–17: 811
- Total parties AY 2015–16: 695
- Total parties AY 2014–15: 876
^This academic year includes six weeks of restricted gathering periods (two weeks at the beginning of each quarter) where no parties were held. Also includes seven Greek organizations being placed on party suspension beginning on April 29, 2022.
*At the end of Winter Quarter 2020 policies around COVID-19 began to take effect. Some parties at that time were cancelled by the hosts or denied by the administration, along with input from Environmental Health & Safety and Santa Clara County public health guidance. Additionally, due to COVID-19 there were no parties in Spring quarter 2020.
Stanford Parties 2024-2025 AY
| Members-Only Parties | 86 |
|---|---|
| Invite-Only Parties | 186 |
| All-Campus Parties | 123 |
| Total Registered Parties | 395 |
- Parties by Quarter: 141 Fall, 116 Winter, 138 Spring
- 395 Total Parties:
- Undergrad: 60 VSO/Other, 146 FSL, 109 ResEd
- Grad: 7 SLS, 52 GSB, 21 Grad Other
- Parties by Type: 86 Members Only, 186 Invite Only, 123 All-Campus
Student Alcohol and Drug Cases 2024 – 2025 Academic Year (AY)
Stanford Alcohol & Drug Cases By Category by Academic Year (AY)
| Type | Count 21-22 | Count 22-23 | Count 23-24 | Count 24-25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol - other | 22 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Alcohol - over-intoxication (not transported) | 38 | 59 | 70 | 62 |
| Alcohol - Referral for substance use education from OCS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Alcohol - serving/providing to those under 21 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| Alcohol - transported for over-intoxication | 66 | 51 | 60 | 42 |
| Alcohol - underage consumption | 31 | 21 | 19 | 20 |
| Alcohol - underage possession | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Cannabis - consumption | 24 | 26 | 31 | 18 |
| Cannabis - Distribution or sales | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Cannabis - other | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Cannabis - possession | 2 | 1 | 8 | 4 |
| Cannabis - over-intoxication | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Controlled substances - consumption | 3 | 8 | 6 | 4 |
| Controlled substances - possession | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Controlled substances - distribution or sales | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Controlled substances - other | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Controlled substances - over-intoxication | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Controlled substances - serving or providing | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 219 | 185 | 222 | 171 |
Alcohol Transport to ER by Academic Year
- 2012-13: 54
- 2013-14: 61
- 2014-15: 60
- 2015-16: 49
- 2016-17: 39
- 2017-18: 65
- 2018-19: 58
- 2019-20: 37 ^
- 2020-21: 0 *
- 2021-22: 64
- 2022-23: 51
- 2023-24: 60
- 2024-25: 42
^ = COVID-19 Campus Closure in March 2020 (no spring quarter)
* = COVID-19 Campus Closure (remote and no gatherings)
Stanford Case Management Tracking
Alcohol Medical Call, No Transport By AY
- 2012-13: 16
- 2013-14: 16
- 2014-15: 11
- 2015-16: 11
- 2016-17: 13
- 2017-18: 27
- 2018-19: 29
- 2019-20: 29 ^
- 2020-21: 0 *
- 2021-22: 36
- 2022-23: 59
- 2023-24: 70
- 2024-25: 62
^ = COVID-19 Campus Closure in March 2020 (no spring quarter)
* = COVID-19 Campus Closure (remote and no gatherings)
Stanford Case Management Tracking
Student Alcohol and Drug Group Accountability Cases 2024 – 2025 AY
- Greek Org: 11
- VSO: 9
- Sports Team: 2
- Residences: 1