By Katie Maraghy
Chips, candy and now birth control. Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania has implemented a new technique to assure students are practicing safe sex.
The university has added vending machines to their health center stocked with condoms, pregnancy tests and the Plan B “morning after” pill.
Students with access to the health center can purchase any of these items from the machine cheaper than what they would typically cost at a drugstore. Some medication that would could cost more than $50 at a drug store is available for $25 from the vending machine.
Elon Freshman Melissa Mischka fully supports the addition on campus.
“I’d say it’s a good idea,” Mischka said. “Students are going to have sex anyways. It’s better to promote the safe side of it.”
Currently, Elon students are able to purchase birth control at the health center on campus, or the local Rite Aid or Walgreens.
“I think that more people will be interested in it, and if its placed in a discreet area of campus, I think that will definitely be an upside,” Mischka said.
Shippensburg University isn’t the only university considering offering birth control vending machines. The school’s actions have sparked conversations on other campuses. According to a CBS Baltimore article, Towson University in Maryland is also considering adding one of the machines to their campus.
