Pubdate: Fri, 09 Mar 2007
Source: Bradley Scout (IL Edu)
Copyright: 2007 Bradley Scout
Contact:  http://buscout.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2716
Author: Abby Puchner
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

BAER: DRUGS NOT HUGE PROBLEM ON CAMPUS

On the evening of Feb. 24, Ricky Jackson, 26, stood inside the Michel 
Student Center foyer with almost half a pound of marijuana, a hitter 
pipe and a scale in his backpack.

There was no one else in the building when University Police 
approached Jackson and found the paraphernalia on his person, but 
police said the evidence was clear -- Jackson intended to sell the marijuana.

Few drug deals are documented in University Police reports, and 
University Police chief Dave Baer doesn't view it as a pervasive problem.

"Have we had it? Yes," he said. "Has it been an extensive situation? 
I would say no. It tends to be less than 1 percent [on campus]."

Most students caught with drugs tend to get them from their 
hometowns, Baer said.

One student, who wished to remain anonymous, said she agreed.

"I don't know Peoria very well," she said. "So I'm more comfortable 
getting stuff from home. I don't get, like, hard drugs either. I 
usually just get pot."

But she vehemently disagreed with Baer's statistic of student drug users.

"Less than 1 percent? No," she said. "That's ridiculous. There are so 
many people I know who smoke weed. Maybe they don't do harder drugs 
than that, but with the 6,000 kids on this campus, that can't be right."

Marijuana seems to be Bradley students' drug of choice, Baer said.

"It's the most common one that we've found students use and they get 
caught [with]," he said. "We have had, on rare occasion, heroin or 
cocaine   but that is so infrequent. It has not been something that 
comes to our attention."

Baer warned students to be careful about carrying drugs from home 
because if University Police have reason to suspect anything, they'll 
alert police with the appropriate jurisdiction.

"If we hear that [a student] says every Friday they're bringing stuff 
from home, then we do our homework, gather as much information as we 
can," he said. "Then we share it and say, 'Here's where they live, so 
their corridor route is maybe [Interstate] 74 or 55.'"

Some students have chosen to obtain marijuana from farther away -- 
across the country, in fact.

"We've had maybe two situations over the years where they've had it 
mailed to them from California," Baer said. "In cases like that, then 
we bring in the [U.S.] Postal Service."

A buffer exists between University Police and suspected drug users on 
campus -- the Residential Life staff. In many cases, the Res-Life 
staff members are the first to catch drug users.

Executive Director of Residential Living and Leadership Nathan Thomas 
said students face certain consequences depending on the number of offenses.

"The student isn't dismissed from school in the first case unless 
it's egregious," he said.

The student may be subject to various intervention programs through 
the Wellness Center, Thomas said, costing the student $80.

On second offense, however, students may face dismissal from the school.

Another student, who wished to remain anonymous, was caught smoking 
marijuana through an "eliminator," or a toilet paper tube lined with 
Febreeze dryer sheets in the dorms a few years ago.

It was his third offense.

"I'm just lucky I had a good lawyer," he said. "I would have for sure 
been kicked out, but the circumstances were weird, so I didn't. But 
still -- it was a dumb idea and it cost me so much money."