GO BEYOND COLLEGE ARRESTS

I read your article about drug arrests on some of our larger campuses (Page
1B, June 4). There were great big numbers that made it sound like our
colleges are rife with users, pushers, and others in the drug world.

I read the article twice looking for one important word, but it wasn't
there. At no place did the word ``conviction'' appear.

If a narcotics squad makes a hundred drug arrests on campus and gets two
convictions, that doesn't tell us much about drug use at the college. A
person who is picked up because he is standing close to someone who is
smoking a joint and then released is a ``drug arrest on campus.'' Lots of
these make astounding figures . They also (seem to) justify next year's
drug detail budget.

I hope you will give us a follow-up article on convictions for drug use on
campus.

M. V. Stivison
San Jose