*Two thirds of students at University College Cork have experimented with drugs, compared with an average of 42% in other colleges.
34% of students at UCC have never taken drugs, a national student survey carried out Campus.ie has found.
Marijuana was the most popular drug of choice at the college, with 55% of students trying it, while 26% and 9% of students questioned had tried ecstasy and hallucinogens respectively.
Just 5% of the 366 UCC students surveyed said that they did not drink. The most popular drinks within the university were spirits (46%), beer (17%) and cider (11%).
The survey, which was completed by 4,631 students in all major third level institutions, found that 79% of students nationally are sexually active, but 74.8% that never had an STI test.
Half of those surveyed said that they were considering emigrating after college, three quarters were not in any form of debt and a resounding 89.2% said they supported marriage equality.
----------*Marijuana retail shop owners in Washington state have been given the green light to open their doors after a series of licences were granted via overnight emails.
Some two dozen pot shops will be permitted to sell cannabis to the public beginning at 8am on Tuesday.
The move will officially make Washington the second state behind Colorado to allow marijuana sales for recreational use.
"We're pretty stoked," said John Evich, an investor in a cannabis shop in Bellingham, north of Seattle.
Washington and Colorado voted in November 2012 to legalise marijuana for adults over 21, and to create state-licenced systems for growing, selling and taxing the pot.
Sales began in Colorado on January 1, resulting in roughly $2m (£1.2m) in marijuana taxes in the first month.
Officials in Washington eventually expect to have more than 300 recreational pot shops across the state.
It remained unclear how many of the shops already granted licences planned to open on Tuesday.
James Lathrop, the owner of Seattle-based Cannabis City, worked into the night on Sunday to have his shop ready for Tuesday's launch.
He said: "I've had a long day. It really hasn't sunk in yet."
He said that he planned to hold off on opening his doors until noon on Tuesday despite the 8am privilege.
"Know your audience: We're talking stoners here. I'd be mean to say they need to get up at 5am to get in line," he said.
Mr Lathrop said he has arranged for a food truck, free water and a portable toilet to accommodate patrons who might spend hours queuing outside his shop.
Meanwhile, limited supply is expected to send pot prices soaring to $25 (£14.60) a gram or higher on the first day of sales - twice what people pay in the state's unregulated medical marijuana dispensaries.
Fewer than 100 of the more than 2,600 applications to become licenced marijuana growers have been approved by the state, and only about a dozen of those were prepared to harvest by the start of July.
-------------Cannabis could soon by available under prescription for MS patients, as legislation is finalised to make it legal, the Health Products Regulatory Authority has confirmed
CEO of the Health Products Regulatory Authority Pat O'Mahony said the authority had now finished examining the scientific merits of using cannabis to help ease symptoms of multiple sclerosis such as muscle spasms.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Sean O'Rourke, he said the policy-makers in the Department of Health are due to issue a revision to legislation to allow cannabis be available under prescription for MS sufferers.
He also said that next week the HPRA will publish a list of 12 active ingredients and medicines that should be available over the counter, instead of by prescription only.
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*A new Eurobarometer study on young people and drugs shows that Ireland has the highest number of young people who have used cannabis in the past year (28%), compared to an EU average of 17%.
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*A new Eurobarometer study on young people and drugs shows that Ireland has the highest number of young people who have used cannabis in the past year (28%), compared to an EU average of 17%.
Only 58% of young Irish people have never taken cannabis, third lowest in Europe and well below the EU average of 69%.
Furthermore, just 46% of young people consider regular cannabis use to be high risk, compared to an EU average of 63%.
Consumption of 'legal highs' among Ireland's 15-24 year olds has meanwhile increased from 16% to 22% over the past three years.
On the International Day Against Drug Abuse, the European Commission, who published the study, has renewed its commitment to taking firm action to protecting young people from the dangers of 'legal highs'.
EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reading said: "A borderless internal market means we need common EU rules to tackle this problem."
Keywords: cannabis
