Many university students smoke, drink alcohol, and use various psychoactive substances. Among them there are people who have problems with addition to these substances. Some can not cope with it and they need help from psychologists or health professionals. Increased psycho-emotional loads become a frequent reason for using psychoactive substances. The purpose of the study was to identify the facts of non-medical use of narcotic drugs and other psychotropic substances by students of a university city, and to establish reasons for it. The study was conducted in March-June 2015 among students of a university city in Western Siberia. 22 199 students aged 18 to 25 were examined by the method of a continuous survey. The average age of the respondents at the time of the study was 20.9. The authors found that the main problems of students are related to their status and social role: household difficulties, high study loads, the need to make their own money (work and study). Great pressure in these spheres can provoke a desire to relieve tension by smoking, drinking alcohol, using narcotic or other psychotropic substances.The result of the study proves that the problem of the emotional security of the educational environment is broader than the prevention of smoking, alcoholism and drug addiction. Today high loads of the university study provoke stress and endogenous diseases that in their symptoms, without clinical studies, coincide with addiction and withdrawal symptoms.