Called a disease, a sickness or a problem, hard drug use can take its toll on anyone - from the average MSU student to those living in the media limelight.

Following MSU junior quarterback Jeff Smoker's comments Thursday about his struggle with substance abuse, scrutiny over hard drug use on campus has brought the issue to the forefront of campus conversation.

Dan Grimm, an international relations junior, says hard drugs are "definitely present" in the student community.

He said student drug use has "become more realized by other people because of rumors circulating, but hard drugs such as cocaine are definitely present in the student body. Cocaine is probably the most used hard drug."

Recent MSU studies of substance abuse among students draws a different conclusion. But despite numbers provided by university studies, students argue hard drug use is far more prevalent than statistics reveal.

Jasmine Greenamyer, a substance-abuse expert at Olin Health Center, said 96 percent of MSU students have never tried cocaine and fewer than 10 percent have tried ecstasy.

"But with that said, our statistics reveal that 5-10 percent of our student population struggles with substance-abuse problems," Greenamyer said.

Social pressures are often the culprit when it comes to addictions and confrontation can be the best medicine, Greenamyer said.

"I would like to encourage the MSU community to be one that confronts use of substances," she said. "I think because usually the person is the life of the party, no one wants to confront them."

"Mike," a communication junior who agreed to speak about his personal use of hard drugs on an anonymous basis, agreed. His experience with cocaine revealed to him the fact that cocaine use "is bigger than people think."

"Spring semester and sophomore year I did it every once in a while," Mike said. "It's just a fun drug to do at parties."

Mike said the numbers provided by MSU studies on student drug use are misleading.

"I would say there are probably somewhere around 15-20 percent who have tried it once or done it once in a great while," he said. "It's something people do, but they don't really talk about it. It's kind of one of those underground things at State."

Prevalence of harder drugs on campus were "apparently on the rise," according to Mike. He likened the rise in cocaine use to ecstasy, which Mike said reached peak usage about two years ago, and has since fallen out of students' favor.

"I think a majority of students at State has a friend that does coke and they might not even know," Mike said.

Smoker's case likely differs from typical student cases, experts say. A source close to the football program told The State News the quarterback has struggled with marijuana and cocaine use.

Substance-abuse experts say Smoker's recovery will be especially difficult because of media presence and glorification of substance abuse.

The media's scrutiny can have a tremendous impact on a person's treatment program in a high profile case, said Robert Eubanks, a substance-abuse counselor at the MSU Counseling Center.

Although Smoker has expressed interest in returning to the team next season, Eubanks said full recovery will be laden with difficult choices.

"Mass exposure from the media creates a unique kind of added difficulty for public figures who are struggling with chemical dependency," Eubanks said. "In short, the person can never be anonymous, which is a vital part of the recovery process."

Eubanks said that once a scheduled form of treatment for dependency is completed, the media is capable of affecting the afflicted person's self image.

"The media can either knowingly or unknowingly create a villainous public perception of the addicted person that can hinder a successful recovery," Eubanks said, adding that troubles "can even go so far as to negatively alter the person's perception of themselves."

The root of addiction for a student-athlete might come from the "undue stresses" of being in a sport seen as a big business, said Jeffrey Kovan, director of MSU Sports Medicine.

"I think what's happening is the finances involved with success is becoming so great, that the pressures to be successful for financial reasons creates undue stresses for those athletes," Kovan said.

"When they're not successful, they catch the flak for it. It's more of the pressures all of us put on these kids."

Patrick Walters can be reached at walter88@msu.edu.