Marking the first Equity, Balance, and Inclusion (EBI) session of the year for upperclassmen students, Dr. Marie Hanna, a practitioner from Boston Children’s Hospital’s Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Program (ASAP), came to Andover to speak about substance abuse. In the presentation on October 12, she focused specifically on its effects on young adults.
Hanna began by discussing the “reward processing systems” found in adolescents, describing how they tend to be drawn to stimulants that feel like larger “prizes.” She emphasized how substances feel different to different people when used, but the brain structures of teens make them particularly susceptible to developing substance abuse and addiction.
“Adolescents actually deactivate their response to a small reward, but then overreact to a very large reward. A small piece of candy might not be super appealing to you, but a truckload you’ll go crazy for… All psychological substances [activate] the pleasure center of the brain [and] basically hijack your normal reward pathways…so you’re developmentally primed to use substances,” said Hanna.
In treating substance abuse, Hanna explored it as a multidisciplinary practice, which requires help from everyone. She advised students to look out for their friends, help them when they see fit, but disengage if the mental burden is too heavy.
“If you’re worried about a friend, there’s a lot of things you can do. Know the signs, really encourage them to get help, talk to a trusted adult if you can. If you’ve done all that, you’ve done all you can and, if it’s negatively impacting you, the best thing you can do at that point is to walk away, look after yourself. Watching someone you love go through that harms you, so you can try to take care of them, but at some point, you have to care for yourself,” said Hanna.
Hanna also warned of the dangers of roofie-ing (a slang term for dosing a person with a drug, usually by hiding it in a drink, in order to rape or victimize that person), which is a common occurrence on college campuses. Applying those risks to Andover, she urged students to use the Sanctuary Policy and to inform the people around them if something feels off.
“A lot of you are going to college and [roofie-ing] happens a lot on college campuses… Be really careful, being safe is better than being sorry… If it looks funky, just stay away. Stick with your friends, always have your friends around, and if you feel any symptoms, you feel off, let your friends know so they can take you home. Let someone know, especially since you guys have the [Sanctuary Policy],” said Hanna.
McKenzie Williams ’24, who is the Co-President of the Students in Medicine Club, was one of two students who introduced Dr. Hanna as an EBI speaker. After listening to her talk, Williams expressed how Dr. Hanna’s educational approach aligned with the goals of the Students in Medicine Club regarding substance use.
“One of the goals [of the Students in Medicine Club] is actually to help the student body learn how to be as healthy and as safe as possible [regarding substances]. We have panels and discussions to raise awareness and education around the discussion about substances and substances on campus. One of our goals is to never come in with the traditional ‘drugs are bad’ approach because it simply does not work. Our goal is to frame it with a view of education, and I was happy to see that Dr. Hanna used the same approach,” said Williams.
Sam Clare ’25 shared how having an expert such as Dr. Hanna lead EBI was more informative as opposed to the underclassmen EBI classes that they attended last year.
“This [EBI] was much more interesting [than EBI as a Lower] because Dr. Hanna clearly knew a lot which made her really engaging. She was also able to be more informative as well. She said that anything could have fentanyl in it, meaning that it could kill you on the first attempt. I think that scared a lot of people, but it should, because it is scary,” said Clare.
Upperclassmen meet once per term for a combined EBI lecture featuring guest speakers who present on specific topics, a change that was implemented last year. Taylor Ware, Associate Director of College Counseling and upperclassmen EBI Course Head, commented on the model of upperclassmen EBI and upcoming EBI speakers for the following trimesters.
“Recognizing the increased demands and time commitments of our older students, we shifted the Upper and Senior model last year to a speaker-based model where Uppers and Seniors attend one speaker per term… This Winter and Spring we are targeting speakers who will cover topics including mindfulness and boundaries,” wrote Ware in an email to The Phillipian.
