Drug Violations Drop 50 Percent
Factors such as drug education and treatment programs on campus, fear of punishment or students getting better at hiding their drug use led to a 50 percent decrease in drug violations from 2008 to 2009 on the University of Nevada, Reno campus.
According to UNR Police Department statistics, the total drug violations fell from 80 in 2008 to 40 in 2009. However, this does not necessarily mean actual drug use is decreasing.
“…I can quantify the fact that we know it is happening more than people are caught based on the calls we get for the smell of marijuana,” said Commander Todd Renwick of the UNR Police Department.
As shown in the graph, the increase in disciplinary actions from 2007 to 2008 can be attributed to the spring 2008 formation of the Substance Abuse Therapeutic Education to Ensure Personal Student Success (STEPSS) program, formerly known as ACT, and the fall 2010 implementation of Cannabis Screening Intervention for College Students (CASICS) program. These programs are deterrents in addition to legal ramifications to keep students from using drugs on campus, according to Carol Millie, the Office of Student Conduct coordinator.
The programs were formed after the university received a grant to enforce underage drinking laws from the federal government’s Office of Juvenile Justice. In addition to the drug education programs, the Office of Student Conduct created the Brief Alcohol Screening Intervention for College Students program (BASICS), which is for students with first-time alcohol violations, Millie said.
Watch a video of Carol Millie describing the CASICS and STEPSS programs:
The decrease in drug use violations on campus is believed to be an effect of implementing the programs, as students realize there will be more required of them than showing up at a court hearing, according to Renwick.
“You have these commitments if you get caught and it’s a hiccup in your life that you have to deal with,” Renwick said. “So on top of whatever normal stress you already have, you have to go through these added stresses as well.”
According to both Renwick and Millie, there are few repeat offenders who go through the programs for drug use. There were between 40 and 50 students who went through CASICS just this fall semester. STEPSS, which was the only drug education program until this semester, had a total of approximately 79 students since January 2010. Students do not want to face consequences more than once, whether it can be accredited to retention of the information given in the education programs or not wanting to have to take more time out to complete the mandated programs.
“There are a lot of commitments and obligations for someone with a citation or an arrest, and there is a lot at stake if they were to get caught again,” Renwick said. “Obviously you don’t want to go through the court system twice for the same thing, although there are those that do. And then you don’t want to have to face student judicial affairs for the same thing twice because the penalties are a lot harder.”
Since Nevada decriminalized marijuana possession under an ounce in 2001, most users now only face a misdemeanor charge instead of a felony.
“I think there is definitely more free use of marijuana because of the decriminalization because, let’s face it, it’s a lot easier to deal with a misdemeanor than a felony,” Renwick said.
And because it is used more commonly, the Office of Student Conduct felt the need to create the CASICS program to help deal with the growing number of students who were experimenting with the drug.
“So far, anecdotally, we’re really happy with it,” Millie said. “We didn’t have anything, really, for the marijuana users except for throwing them into the STEPSS program, but a lot of them were not on the abuse or dependency route. Our society has kind of down graded marijuana, and a lot of people view it like alcohol, so we wanted a program that met those needs.”
Despite lessened criminal charges for marijuana use, drug violations on campus are much fewer than alcohol violations. In 2009, there were 243 total liquor law violations according to UNR police department statistics, approximately six times as many as the 40 drug violations.
“To put it in perspective, alcohol is the drug of choice in college,” Renwick said. “It’s available, people are going to experiment with it, it’s college.”
The Student Perspective
One student shares her impressions about going through the STEPSS program, when it was known as ACT, in 2009.
“At first when you walk in, everyone is stressed out,” she said. “We started out by telling our stories and all of them were different. One girl was smoking because she couldn’t sleep. A couple others were caught coming home from a party, and the others were smoking in their dorm rooms.”
Her group meetings, which were held in a bright and comfortable room in the Lincoln Hall dormitory, were led by a counselor and had about six participants. The format of the meetings was round table discussions about the students’ feelings about their use.
“There were a couple kids in the class that looked like hippies but for the most part everyone was pretty clean cut,” she said. “Some people were really open, but others really didn’t want to be there and wouldn’t say anything.”
Students participating in the program had to do several assignments such as take pictures of things that reminded them of drugs or alcohol.
“The only thing that really stuck with me is how much college students integrate drugs and alcohol into their lives,” she said. “I suppose I found the classes informative, but since it was based mostly on opinion from the participants, there was a lot of pro-pot talk.”
One of her main concerns is the effectiveness of the program. Because the program is based on motivational interviewing, the counselors do not directly tell participants not to use drugs, but let the students review their use and make the decisions about their drug use themselves.
“The most frustrating thing is that it didn’t really work,” she said. “I know some people I took the class with are still doing the same old things. I don’t think they scared people enough. I think if you want to have a lasting effect you need to scare someone a little. Maybe having a cop or a person who has gone through it talk to us would have a more lasting impression.”
Another suggestion she has for the program is following up with the students after the counseling is complete. She believes the Office of Student Conduct should be interested in how the participants are faring after their experience. But despite the flaws with the program, it provided a better alternative to what could have happened.
“It is a lot better than going through drug court because the school takes care of it,” she said. “You don’t have to go through the court system, and you aren’t in danger of going to jail. They turn it into a learning experience.”