Campus Safety, Residential Life and the Office of Drug and Alcohol Education agree: the frequency of drug violations on campus is rising. The drug issue is not an isolated one, however. Minnesota colleges and Midwest schools from North Dakota to Illinois are all reporting higher numbers of narcotic incidents on their campuses.

The student body’s perception of drug use has also changed; a recent poll by the National College Health Association, posted by the Gustavus Peer Assistants, found that Gustavus students assumed that half of their peers (51.9 percent) used marijuana in the past month. The actual number of marijuana use was just over 7 percent, according to the 2010 survey. With such a significant minority of students actually using marijuana and other drugs, why would the campus be experiencing a rise in the frequency of drug violations?

The issue may not be as simple as an increase in use. Campus Safety and Collegiate Fellows (CFs) have changed their response to drug-related incidents. In the past, CFs have confronted issues in the residence halls themselves whenever the smell of marijuana or other indicator of drug use was apparent. This year, a new policy dictates that CFs immediately involve Campus Safety officers when they suspect drug use. CFs will still confront the issue themselves, but as soon as Campus Safety officers arrive, they take control of the situation. This could lead to a perceived increase in drug violations because Campus Safety reports are public, while CF interactions and sanctions are kept private.

“I think that’s one of the reasons you’re seeing it addressed more publicly than in years past,” Director of Student Life and Assistant Dean of Students Charlie Strey said. Despite this change in response, though, Strey acknowledged an apparent increase in drug violations this year. “While we have always detected a certain amount [of drug use], there seems to be more this year than in previous years,” Strey said.

As reported by Gustavus’s Judicial System, 2011’s number of drug incidents has been above average thus far. According to the numbers available from 2002 through 2010, the average number of drug violations for fall semester is 5.3, while the average January number is 2.5. This fall, the Judicial System reported nine fall semester incidents and 12 January incidents. These numbers far exceed the averages, especially the January number which was one short of the combined total number of January incidents from the past nine years. Though current numbers are not available yet for the 2011 spring term, the 2010-2011 academic year has already exceeded the average number of annual violations, which is 12.2. These numbers do not reflect the number of violations that resulted in judicial sanctions, only the amount of cases the judicial system had to be involved with.

While marijuana cases represent the great majority of cases, the appearance of prescription drug use and sale has become a more recent concern. Ritalin and Adderall, prescription attention deficit medications, have appeared in cases of distribution and also in medical assists. The sharing or sale of prescription drugs is always a concern because of their potentially dangerous effects when taken by a non-prescribed person. Mixing medications, and especially the combination of prescription drugs with alcohol, presents serious health concerns.

“My biggest fear is that we’re going to lose somebody, either here or on another campus, because students are unaware of the side effects [of prescription drugs],” Director of Campus Safety Ray Thrower said. Earlier this year, Campus Safety and St. Peter Police responded to a medical assist situation in which prescription drugs were a factor. Thrower and Strey both encourage students to enact the limited immunity policy in such situations to get their friends medical help when they need it.

“We’ll work toward making sure that somebody is granted some kind of limited immunity in those cases,” Strey said.

The question of why drug related cases are increasing in frequency remains. The misperception by students that their peers are using drugs may have something to do with it. While students said in the NCHA survey that they believed over 50 percent of their fellow students had used marijuana in the past month, only 7 percent actually had. Social norms theory, explained Director of Drug and Alcohol Education Judy Douglas, may place a subtle peer pressure on students to accept drug use as normal.

“If you perceive that students are using … then that to you is normalized behavior,” Douglas said. The disparity between the perceived drug use and the actual use is much higher than that for alcohol. The reason for the misperception is hard to determine. What can be determined is how and where students are being caught.

“We haven’t had any incidents outside of a residence hall yet this year,” Strey said. Despite the salience of drug awareness posters, the misperception campaign by the Peer Assistants and the creation of a drug sanctions grid by Student Senate and the Dean of Students Office, students are still using drugs in their residence halls — and getting caught.

“[Campus Safety] officers are spending time in the residence halls, and we are detecting more drug usage this year,” Thrower said.

Douglas recalled that in the past, the number of cases involving students using drugs in residence halls was significantly fewer, almost non-existent. Students using drugs in their rooms, especially marijuana with its potent and recognizable odor, makes detection fairly easy for CFs and Campus Safety officers. If students have changed their behavior and are using drugs indoors more than they used to, this could explain a rise in the number of drug violations encountered by the judicial system.

The repercussions of drug use can be more serious than students realize. Though Campus Safety tries to deal with incidents themselves, they will turn any case over to police that involves sale and distribution, or drugs besides marijuana. Douglas also advised that students be aware of the Drug Free Schools Act; if a student has federal financial aid and they get a drug violation on their state record, their aid can be forfeited.

“If you’re a student on financial aid, which a lot of people are, there are consequences [of drug violations] that ensue,” said Douglas.

Gustavus’s own sanctions include fines, educational programs, disciplinary censure, parent notification, meetings with the Drug and Alchohol Education Director, work hours and suspension or expulsion. Students should also be wary of getting violations that involve the police, because the legal repercussions will be documented in their state records. When employers do background checks, those violations will likely turn up.

“I would say the two things I’d be most concerned about would be if [the violation] gets on your state record, and if you’re a student on financial aid,”Douglas said.

Though changes in addressing and recording drug incidents may have changed, the biggest change seems to have been in student behavior.