Drug violations increase on campus

The towels were crammed underneath the bathroom door of an apartment in Conestoga Hall and a can of Febreze was sitting by the sink ready to hide any odor. A few guys sat down on the cold floor, removed marijuana blunts from their pockets, flipped on their lighters and began smoking the drug.

This ritual they took part in multiple times every day was interrupted this past October by a knock on the door to the apartment followed by a voice shouting, "Campus Life! Open up!"

The high that these Point Park University students had achieved through smoking marijuana was immediately forgotten as feelings of alarm and panic raced through their minds. K.J., who agreed to an interview with a pseudonym, was one of 16 students charged with a violation of the drug policy since the end of the fall semester – a 200 percent increase from fall 2008.

K.J. said he and a friend purchased marijuana from a student in Lawrence Hall and went to Conestoga Hall to smoke the weed.

What they did not know at the time is Public Safety Officer Nicholas Black and a Campus Life employee witnessed the drug deal and followed them to Conestoga Hall.

As K.J. went through the Judicial Affairs process he was nervous about what his punishment would be.

"I thought I was done for at Point Park," K.J. said. "I thought my parents would find out and my housing contract would be terminated."

While K.J. did not have his housing contract terminated, he was given a $75 fine, placed on disciplinary probation and had to meet once with Kathryn Pieratt, the campus Alcohol and Drug Educator to discuss the event.

"Disciplinary probation is a period of time when a student needs to be diligent and not violate policies because their probation will be taken into consideration for the new sanctions," Amy Cooper, former Director of Judicial Affairs, said.

In addition, K.J. also had to testify at the hearing of the student who dealt him and his friend drugs. According to K.J., that student lost his housing contract and is not permitted to live on campus for the rest of the year.

K.J. said being caught on campus with drugs has been a money-saving experience. He went from smoking three to four blunts, which are hollowed out cigars filled with marijuana, a day to no longer smoking marijuana on the university's property. 

K.J. said he would purchase "headies," which are the top of the marijuana plant that provides a better high. This is compared to purchasing "mids," which do not provide the same high and are less expensive.

K.J. said he would spend about $60 every day buying more than two grams of marijuana and would smoke three to four blunts. This amounted to around $1,680 a month that he would spend on the drug. 

 While his drug use has declined since being caught on campus, it has not completely stopped.

 "I'm a college student," K.J. said. "I'm going to have fun partying and whatnot."

K.J. says he will still take part in drug activities because he "likes being high" but will not do so on Point Park's campus due to his probation.

K.J., along with other students, do not believe there is a drug problem at Point Park.

"The drug [use] on this campus is … normal," junior dance major Nicole Jones said. 

However, the statistics dispute that perception and point to a rising trend of drug use on campus.

According to data provided by Cooper, as of Dec. 1, 2011, there have been 16 students charged with violating the drug policy during the fall semester by either using, possessing, distributing, selling, or being under the influence of narcotics, hallucinogenics, dangerous drugs, or controlled substances. Cooper expected this number to increase because the number of students in violation of the drug policy for the fall semester has not yet been finalized.

This is just under a 200 percent increase from the fall of 2008 when six students were charged with violating the drug policy.

The number of students charged with violating the drug policy has been increasing since then.

During the fall 2008 and spring 2009 term, nine students were charged with violating the policy. During the following term, that number increased to 11, and in the fall 2010 and spring 2011 term the number jumped to 19.

This sudden increase does coincide with the implementation of a campus police force. However, when the police force began in spring 2011 there were nine students charged with violating the drug policy. During the semester before the police force, there were 10 students charged with violating the drug policy.

Jeffrey Besong, director of public safety and chief of police at Point Park, did not comment on whether or not the sudden increase in drug violations was due to the new police force, but he did release an email comment in relation to this story on Dec. 5.