Not much can come close to the intense experiences that drugs that can provide - aside from the increased enjoyment it can provide on a night out, it often helps to forge powerful bonds with other members of your group.

Yeah but try studying on them. Or rather, try remembering what you've studied when high.

If you get to university and already live a small, closed life, there (arguably) isn't a lot of point in being there - university is about enjoying yourself and expanding your mind, it is what comes after that is about being sensible and limiting yourself. we are the men i n black

University has always dealt primarily with expanding a person's knowledge in academics, not in what sort of pills are best to take. It is perfectly easy to enjoy yourself without resorting to drugs which can more than easily prove fatal to anyone. What is sensible is to avoid them altogether.

Unless a person is abnormally confident, drugs/alcohol will put them much more at ease. This is especially useful for shy individuals, who may realise that there are much scarier things than trying to make a new friend.

There's a problem with giving people a crutch: some think they can't walk without it. Shy people shouldn't use alcohol as a way of becoming more extrovert. That way alcoholism lies.

From bad trips and health problems to overdoses and inactive pills, the world of drugs can be a dangerous one to navigate. Even if you just stick to alcohol, depression, liver disease and falling asleep in a pool of your own vomit aren't beyond the realms of possibility.

There is little more pathetic than someone stumbling into a lecture, still half drunk and shouting about how many beers they chugged last night. Except perhaps someone who has yet to come down, pupils the sauce of saucers, muttering about the pretty colours. University is, first and foremost, an educational institution.

While they may aid shy/nervous individuals, there is no guarantee that such individuals will be any better at social contact when they aren't using drugs. The mere mention of drugs is enough to seriously put some people off even talking to you. For this reason, I don't expect to see my debate on the homepage - drugs is an issue which most would prefer to sweep under the carpet. But you cannot expect it to stay under there forever.

Students should not waste their time or money. I have seen the results of students getting drunk. The NUS is largely responsible for this. If university campuses and halls of residence were "dry" perhaps fewer students would be expelled.