Documentary: How Strong is Peer Pressure on Students to Use Drugs?

Drug use seems to be becoming increasingly normal among young people. But how strong is the peer pressure on students to join in?

The documentary Groepsdruk (‘Peer Pressure’) explores what drives young people to use drugs. If it’s considered normal in your friend group to take a line of cocaine or pop a pill now and then, do you feel obligated to go along?

Students Dorine Rinket, Femke Loykens, Fleur van Beilen, Stan Germeraad, and Thomas Kajuiter, from the minor Medialism at Hanze UAS, conducted an investigation in their city, Groningen. They spoke with a student who frequently uses drugs, a former addict whose use spiralled out of control, ex-bouncer Jamal Bedijn from Club Oost, and Willem Hilberts from Verslavingszorg Noord Nederland (Addiction Care North Netherlands).

Why do people use drugs in the first place? What are the dangers of normalising drug use? How harmless is it to try just once? And how do you communicate that you’d rather not join in with your drug-using friends without losing them? Where can you turn for help if you want to quit but can’t do it alone?

The four main interviewees each share their perspectives on drug use and the peer pressure young people may feel to participate. Their stories are framed by a fictional narrative about a student who finds themselves at a party and is pressured into using drugs.

The documentary is in Dutch, but contains English subtitles.

Are you struggling with addiction yourself? Call anonymously and confidentially at +31882343434 or visit the website of Verslavingszorg Noord Nederland.