Last week, campus police arrested two students on the South 40 who were suspected of marijuana and cocaine possession. According to the WUPD crime log, the students both admitted to charges of possession. They lived in Eliot House and Lien Hall.
The two arrests occurred on Friday, Jan. 26 and Monday, Jan. 29, following the discovery of suspected marijuana and cocaine during a Residential Life search.
“We send [the sample] to the crime lab, and the crime lab does an analysis and calculates the weight amount,” said Don Strom, chief of WUPD. “In these two cases, it was relatively small amounts of suspected cocaine. I don’t think that either of these cases would fall under serious charges.”
Although drug possession is automatically considered a felony, the crime increases in severity according to the amount possessed.
Chief Strom also indicated that while possession of drugs with the intent to distribute them is a more serious offense, there was no evidence suggesting that was the case in the recent arrests.
In both of last week’s cases, evidence was found during a search conducted by Residential Life.
Based on the terms of housing contracts, Residential Life retains the right to search student rooms, when it suspects that students may be in danger or in violation of the law.
“Searching students’ rooms is not something that Residential life does very often nor is it something that we enjoy doing, but it is something that we keep in place to keep our community safe,” said Tim Lempfert, associate director of Residential Life.
While students who have been arrested under drug charges are subject to criminal charges, they may also be punished by University sanctions. These sanctions vary on a case-by-case basis, and can include referral to a judicial administrator, suspension, and termination of University housing.
“Students are held accountable to the University Judicial code and Residential Life policy. If the University believes that a student has violated one of those, we will hold the student accountable based on the information we have. That may happen independently of the Police Department,” explained Lempfert.
Although drug use on campus is often perceived as limited, some students suggest that it is more widespread than official statistics indicate.
“I would say that marijuana use is very widespread, especially in terms of those who have tried it,” said a student who uses marijuana and wished to remain anonymous. “Cocaine use has definitely increased on campus in the last few years.”
The student indicated that while it is sometimes difficult to find drugs on campus, many choose to “outsource” their purchases to the off-campus community, allowing them easier access to the illegal substances.
According to the student, the drug of choice on campus is marijuana.
“A lot of people who use marijuana-both on campus and off-view it as a lot less harmful than alcohol,” said the student.
The question of drug use on campus is a part of a larger University concern about high-risk behavior by college students.
“Alcohol use and abuse continues to be a concern on our campus and all campuses and we still have people making decisions that are in some cases life threatening,” said Strom.
-With additional reporting by Shweta Murthi