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Reefer madness, part II

Date 3/17/2005 12:00 AM | Topic: Features

Investigating drug prevalence and Luther's case-by-case policy

Pot is everywhere in Decorah.

"Personally, I don't see any moral dilemma in selling pot," said John*, a senior at Luther who estimates that he has sold five pounds of marijuana this school year.

John is not alone. Paul*, a sophomore at Luther, recently brought a pound of pot to Decorah and was planning on selling most of it.

While John and Paul may be somewhat exceptional cases, casual pot use isn't.

"I've probably smoked pot at least 100 times since my senior year of high school," said Georgia*, a sophomore.

"I definitely think that marijuana use is common at Luther," said Katie Lantz ('05). "Its prevalence doesn't really concern me. I just don't think it is a smart or fun thing to do."

Ann Highum, vice president and dean for student life, is concerned.

"I don't think we've seen an increase in the number of cases with marijuana, but I suspect there is an increase [in use]," said Highum. "I know there are many students that use marijuana."

One of the main concerns Highum had was the effect it has on academic life.

"There seems to be a strong connection between excessive marijuana use and being in academic difficulty," said Highum.

"It's undeniable if you look at the list of students that are not doing well and then happen to know there's also marijuana use in the background."

A recent study on 129 college students by the National Institute for Drug Abuse reported that students who smoke marijuana on a daily basis have impaired attention, memory and learning skills.

NIDA research also shows that long-term use of marijuana can lead to addiction for some people.

Individuals who are addicted continue to use marijuana despite the negative consequences it might have on work or social interactions.

"You can usually tell who the potheads are in class," said Anne Aschim ('07).

Some have also argued that the current system at Luther is unfair in that drug law violations are referred to the police, yet underage alcohol violations are dealt with internally.

For instance, Tim Carroll ('07) was arrested on Nov. 10, 2004, for marijuana possession after Luther called the Decorah police.

"People who get drunk and do far dumber things than I do don't have to do anything even close to what I have had to do," said Carroll. "I have lived around people who are constantly getting drunk on weekends. They are always being excessively loud, destructive to school property and don't have much respect for their neighbors."

Luther's policy of calling police for drug violations but dealing with alcohol violations internally is something Highum considered a "discrepancy in our society that has crept into how we do things here."

She also pointed to pragmatic reasons for upholding one law but ignoring another.

"If we were to call the police every time there was an underage alcohol incident, the police would have to move up here," Highum said. "That's a sad state of affairs."

In 2003, there were seven drug-related incidents on campus. Alcohol, by comparison, had 276 incidents.

One reason for the limited number of drug-related incidents is the nature of the drugs.

"Typically, alcohol presents itself more clearly to us because some of the behaviors associated with alcohol use or abuse will have community effects," said Eric Braun, director of Residence Life.

"A student can go out and get intoxicated with alcohol and then come back to the residence halls and be aggressive. Marijuana use by students tends to be more secretive, more private."

Marijuana users often go to elaborate lengths to conceal their activities. While in-doors, smokers use "blow tubes" or "pablookas" to cover the smell of marijuana smoke. Pablookas usually consist of an empty pop bottle filled with dryer sheets. The bottom of the bottle is then punctured, creating several holes. After inhaling marijuana smoke, the user exhales into the pablooka, disguising the distinctive smell of marijuana smoke.

"Marijuana is a problem at any college or university because authorities have a hard time controlling these activities," said Jonathan Carlson ('07).

Carroll considered Luther's authorities capable enough to be responsible for drug-related arrests.

"Luther should handle all substance abuse situations in an internal and personal way like they do with alcohol," said Carroll. "They'd prefer to let us burn at the mercy of the county prosecutors rather than handle the situation themselves."

Highum believes treating marijuana like alcohol is impossible due to the legality of the two substances.

"Marijuana is clearly illegal for everybody," said Highum. "It's not like you can say 'we're going to teach you how to be a good user of marijuana.' At some age, alcohol is legal. At no age is marijuana legal."

After talking to several people who have handled pot incidents on campus, one reoccurring theme persisted: no one's case is similar. Every case is handled differently by the administration.

This policy stands in stark contrast to the alcohol policy, in which clear consequences are defined for each violation.

Luther's current alcohol policy was defined six or seven years ago.

Highum considered this consistency as necessary.

"Alcohol was seen as a very large problem at the time," said Highum, "and we wanted to be consistent. When a problem is pervasive, then you want to deal with it in a specific, consistent way, unless the circumstances are very unusual."

Meanwhile, each marijuana circumstance is dealt with individually, said Braun.

"It's really up to the discretion of the hearing officer," said Braun, "based upon the evidence presented."

Samantha*, a former resident assistant, thinks other factors are the reason for Luther's current policies.

"I think that Luther handles things on a case-by-case basis because of an image they want to protect," said Samantha. "I think it is extremely unfair that because of who you know, your incident will get handled differently from the person next door."

Carroll also regards the college as having other intentions in mind.

"I really believe that the school [wanted] to make an example of somebody," said Carroll.

Patricia Stoddard, associate professor of social work, sees both sides of the issue.

"On one hand, I think consistent enforcement is more important than harsh enforcement," said Stoddard. "On the other hand, the social worker side of me that says that we need to tailor our interventions to individual circumstances."

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Ryan Nilsestuen

Editor's note: all sources indicated with * wished to remain anonymous.

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