Drug arrests numbers up in 2014
The USU Police Department reported that 32 students have been arrested for use of illegal substances in 2014. This marks an increase from last year’s total of 19 arrests.
“There was definitely a jump from last year,” said USU Police Captain Steven Milne. “It’s hard to say if it is a trend that is reflective of a growing problem or not, though. The majority of the arrests, if not just about all of them, would have been for marijuana.”
Captain Milne said there are many possibilities for the large increase in arrests for drug use at USU but was not able to pinpoint a definitive reason.
“The reasons for the increase could be a number of factors,” Milne said. “In one incident we arrested six people. In another we had four, so it could be that we just arrested more people with each incident. Maybe we’ve just been in the right place at the right time to catch them.”
USU’s prevention specialist Ryan Barfuss, helps students who are arrested for the illegal use of alcohol and drugs. Barfuss believes that the reason for the increase in marijuana use at USU is because it has received wider acceptance recently in other states.
“I think it has increased due to more states like Colorado legalizing it over the past few years,” Barfuss said. “But I would still say that Utah State doesn’t have a drug problem, especially when you compare us to other universities and to the surrounding community.”
Milne said the reason for the increase in arrests could have been due to an increase in reports the USU police received from outside sources, such as roommates and resident assistants.
“We catch them through a combination of ways with most of them coming as a result of reports we receive,” Milne said. “The majority of reports we get are from RAs. We do training sessions with them so that they can recognize marijuana and other drugs through its smell.”
Milne said USU police officers are trained to recognize when students have been using illegal substances while they are on patrols.
“Sometimes it just comes from our officers on walking patrols or traffic stops around campus when they encounter it,” Milne said. “Most of the officers have gone through drug recognition classes, which they have been using.”
Ashley Miller served as a resident assistance at the Living Learning Center for three years. In her experience she encountered very few incidents involving the use of illegal substances.
“I didn’t see any real big problems with substance abuse during my time there,” Miller said. “I don’t think Utah State has a drug problem at all. I’d say it’s very mild compared to other universities. At least that’s how it was in our housing complex.”
Miller only had a “handful of cases” that she had to deal with as an RA. She also confirmed the marijuana use is the number one illegal drug that she had to deal with.
“I wouldn’t say drug use was rare, but I wouldn’t say it was uncommon either,” Miller said. “It happened enough that when we did encounter it, we knew how to deal with it. I can’t recall coming in contact with any other drugs other than marijuana. I heard of others kids on campus getting caught with other drugs, like at parties, but never at the LLC that I know of.”
The USU Police Department was unable to provide the number of arrests for different illegal substances, but they acknowledged that there is a presence of “harder” drugs than marijuana, though only in small numbers.
“The second most abused are definitely prescription drugs,” Barfuss said. “But those are more expensive and harder to get, so many students seek a cheaper option and turn to cocaine. As for the more hardcore drugs, like cocaine and crystal meth, they are pretty rare, but they are definitely still present here.”
Barfuss said most students with drug problems who interact with him at the Student Health and Wellness Center come of their own free will for help. He said that the students with serious drug addictions don’t last long at college.
“College does a pretty good job in weeding out drug users because the drugs they use significantly affect their schoolwork, and most people with serious problems end up dropping out because of it,” he said.
— christopherfarnes@aggiemail.usu.edu