I'm going crazy!

You've got to help me before I go completely crazy!

My girlfriend of 18 months is studying overseas in the United States and so far I've heard nothing but odd news!

Aparantly most of the guys who study at her college are on some form of medication or regularly smoking hashish and marijuana. Others are almost groping her and coming with comments and sexual harrasments. Some guys try to come into her and her friends room saying that they want to smoke hash under their beds...!

I don't know what do to because I feel so powerless and she dislikes it there because of all these odd people.. I just don't want them any way near her! I and her friends spouse are going to visit them over christmas and new years eve.. Unfortunately all the other students will have gone home by then, if not, I feel like bashing their heads in.

Now, I do not in any way mean to insult any one of you. I do not want to generalize either, because I know that there are A Lot of great american people out there; and I have gotten to know quite a few both here at the forum and via other forms of communication. But why is it so common to eat amphetamine for depression and smoke hash instead of drinking alcohol? And GOD, how can I cope with my violent feelings?

(Can tourists buy weapons in America during their stay?)

But why is it so common to eat amphetamine for depression and smoke hash instead of drinking alcohol?

It isn't that common. It may be the program she's studying in or the school that she goes to. You can't generalize the entire population because of the behavior of one group of students. Alcohol is far more popular.

If she's that unhappy, maybe she could transfer schools. There are plenty of schools in the US for virtually any type of degree she's interested in.

(Can tourists buy weapons in America during their stay?)

Well not legally, but that doesn't mean it can't be done if you ask around enough. Probably from the same group supplying hash to the students

I hope your parting question about weapons was a joke.

If you're truly violent, stay in Sweden. The last thing we need here is another imported nut. We have enough of our own.

And is drowning one's sorrows in alcohol any better than than smoking marijuana? I'm not condoning either manner of substance abuse, but I think your question is strange since you seem to feel that drinking away depression is the better option.

You need to relax. To be honest, your repeated allusion to violence is creeping me out.

It isn't that common. It may be the program she's studying in or the school that she goes to. You can't generalize the entire population because of the behavior of one group of students. Alcohol is far more popular

I do not in any way mean to generalize. Perhaps it is these news combined with what I've heard from friends who are transferstudents as well as the "backgrounds" of some presidents and the prejudice from hollywood movies that have formed such an opinion in me.

Avman and Mermaid, please forgive me if I appear to be a raving looney but I'm just so shocked and upset about what has happened to her.

I was of course not serious about the statement that I made about weapons. But I do think that using alcohol is better than marijuana because from personal experiences I can say that narcotics mess with your brain far worse than beer or liquor can. And before I get a comment about me having used narcotics and disliking other people using it, I can only say that I know what it is like and I know what can happen.. Which only hightens my fear of what Could happen.

- And from what I could hear they were not using hash or m-jane to drown their sorrows, it was merely a strategy. The parties at that college seem to be built around drinking as fast as you can at one house before the cops come, then quickly run to the next party, drink all you can, and run away to the next; and so on. Smoking is much quicker so that seems to be the buzz-of-choice.. To summarize, it's not to drench sorrows, merely because it's easier to use.

And I am not in any way violent. I have never been in a fight. But when I hear about addict-morons sexually harrasing my girlfriend whom I cannot even talk to every day, I just want to wring their necks. They have no business insinuating or touching her when she does not even like it.

And also, Mermaid, I did not make this thread merely to rant, I wanted to find help to cope with all of this. Not hearing, to be perfectly honest, utter crap about how I need to stop having them. How could I when I do not even know where to begin.

Well a lot of it depends on the crowd you run with. When I was in college I could have run with the drug crowd if I wanted to. I just chose not to. With 50,000 students at my school there was every possible type of atmosphere available. I just had to pick and choose carefully. I dont know how large a school your girlfriend goes to, but if its big enough maybe she just needs to hang with different people.

You'll have to trust your girlfriend to use her best judgement. Its really tough for you to fix things from accross the pond. So just be supportive of her and let her know you love her.

Um, I didn't give you "utter crap." You came on and ranted about bashing people's brains in, stated multiple times that you were feeling violent, and then asked (with no hint of humor that I could plainly see) whether you could purchase a weapon during your visit here.

This is an already violent world and an extremely violent country. Forgive me if your rant set off some alarms for me.

Anyway, alcohol is just as dangerous and mood-altering when consumed in mass quantities. In fact, in the past I've both smoked marijuana and drunk far, far too much alcohol--and in all cases, I was most affected by the latter. (I do neither anymore.)

I'm not making light of the effects of marijuana, I'm just saying that neither is better than the other, so don't kid yourself.

And I still think you need to relax. Your girlfriend may have made it sound much worse than it is. Some American colleges do have reputations as "party schools," but I'm sure none of the people she's meeting are particularly dangerous, and if she doesn't want to join in with the partying, all she has to say is "no."

However, if things are, in fact, getting out of hand (with sexual advances and harassment), then she should talk to her RA (resident advisor), Dean or other faculty member, because she doesn't have to suffer through that kind of treatment.

Drugs and booze at college/uni is so common. I live in a dorm, and every night, it is the same thing over and over, partying til the early morning, drinking, smoking, injecting, screwing, whatever. I have a female friend on the top floor who is also involved in an LDR (like I am) and she experiences the same gropings and come ons by guys. She passes them up all the time, and usually ends up going to one of her friends' rooms to hide or coming down a floor (to my floor) to go into one of the "protectors" - as she calls us - ' rooms. Trust me, she'll be fine.

As for weapons, dude, you are the one that needs help there. I know it is America, but despite that, violence is not the answer, despite what they promote.