Some Ohio University students were caught having a little too much fun last year.
On campus, there were a total of 176 reports of drug use in and around OU residence halls during the 2011–12 fiscal year.
However, of those 176 reports, only 73 people were either cited or arrested in those areas.
East Green received the most visits from the Ohio University Police Department for residential drug use totaling 85 instances, with Bryan and Jefferson Halls having 12 reports each, according to police records.
In Jefferson Hall, the drug problem was common knowledge among its residents, said Gabi Aziz, a sophomore studying psychology and a 2011–12 Jefferson Hall resident.
“Everyone knew that if your door was closed and you heard coughing, they were doing drugs in there,” she said. “If Jeff Hall had a scent, it would be the scent of weed.”
It was common to find bags of marijuana, needles and pill bottles around the residence hall, Aziz said.
According to records, after an odor of marijuana was found in the building on Sept. 3, 2011, officers were called in to patrol the dorm.
“On the second night of school, I saw drug dogs sniffing my door,” she said.
OU Police Chief Andrew Powers said he does not recall OUPD sending drug dogs into any residence halls last year.
Police officers were seen in Jefferson Hall every day, Aziz said.
OUPD frequently patrols residence halls without a specific problem or reason. Officers are encouraged to interact with students to help promote safe behavior, Powers said.
“There is no correlation between how frequently officers patrol the buildings and drug problems,” he said.
These numbers are similar to what the university has typically seen in the past, Powers said. OUPD has a full-time narcotics detective who works on campus.
“A drug problem is different from drug activity,” he said. “I’m not naïve enough to think that there isn’t drug activity on campus. I’m certainly aware that students do use drugs.”
Drug incidents reported on campus did not always lead to arrests. Suspects ran from officers, refused to open residence hall doors or were not found to be taking part in illegal activities, according to police reports.
While police trips to Bryan and Jefferson halls were common, each green had only one dorm with no marijuana reports.
Treudley Hall on West Green, Bush Hall on East Green and Hoover House on South Green, did not have any drug reports last year.
There are many factors that could explain why there were no reports to those dorms; one is the type of residents, said Li Teng, residential coordinator of Hoover House.
“I think (there were no reports) because of our international student population,” Teng said.
Despite some dorms having larger drug problems, students still tend to enjoy their residential experience.
“I have nothing bad to say about the dorm,” Aziz said. “It was a fun place to be, and I never felt unsafe.”
bl171210@ohiou.edu
