Drug Arrests Up 18 Percent on Major College Campuses, Survey Finds

By WILLIAM H. HONAN

Drug arrests on major college campuses climbed by almost 18
percent in 1995, according to the annual survey of campus crime
by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Some college officials attributed
the rise to stricter enforcement of drug laws rather than to increased drug
use.

The survey, appearing in the March 21 issue, reported reductions in other
crimes, in line with national trends. The number of murders was down to
15 from 16, robberies were down to 1,038 from 1,157 and burglaries
were down to 16,011, from 16,789.

But forcible sex offenses were up to 973, from 955 in 1994.

There were 6,797 arrests for drug violations in 1995, up from 5,764 the
previous year. The largest increase was reported at Northern Arizona
University, with 133 drug arrests in the 199596 academic year, up from
78 the previous year.

Ten other institutions reported more than 100 drug arrests in 1995:
Arizona State University, Michigan State University, Rutgers University,
San Jose State University in California, the University of Arizona, the
University of California at Berkeley, the University of Maryland at
College Park, the University of Michigan, the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Colleges and universities that receive federal money are required by law
to make yearly reports on crimes committed on their campuses and to
make these reports available to students and employees. The Chronicle
survey covered all 490 fouryear colleges and universities enrolling 5,000
students or more. Only Yeshiva University declined to supply data to the
newspaper.

While the survey highlights the rise in drug arrests, college health
specialists said alcohol abuse posed a far greater problem. The survey
found 15,208 arrests for liquorlaw violations, up from 15,027. And,
added Steve Lustig, executive director of University Health Services at
the University of California at Berkeley, "Almost all of the sexual assaults
here last year were alcoholrelated."

At Rutgers, Dr. Robert H. Bierman, director of the Student Health
Service, said he was unaware of any increase in drug use on campus and
thought the increase in arrests resulted from aggressive enforcement. He
said Rutgers' alcohol and drug programs have been regarded as models.

"Our Adaps housing program it stands for Alcohol and Other Drug
Assistance Program for Students has become nationally recognized,"
Bierman said. "It places recovering students together in a part of a
dormitory where they can support each other. People from around the
country come here to study this program."

Bierman cited a number of other Rutgers programs that he believes are
highly effective, including a program called Substance Free Housing, in
which students renounce the use of alcohol, drugs and tobacco.

"Rutgers has 48,000 students," Bierman said. "This is a city, and a city
composed of people mostly 17 to 26 years old. You have to expect
some things."

The Chronicle cautioned that the crime reports are not necessarily
complete. Crimes involving students at an urban campus, for example,
might be handled by local police, not campus agencies, and thus not
included in the data. Further, colleges with a professional police force, not
a campus judicial system, may show higher crime rates because of more
aggressive enforcement.

And not all the crimes involve students. At Berkeley, for example, Patrick
Carroll, a captain in the campus police department, said that 90 percent
to 95 percent of those arrested on drug charges by his officers were
people not affiliated with the university.

"That's been the case throughout the 27 years I've been here," he said.
"And most of them are not dealers. They've entered the campus for some
other reason. They're usually arrested for possession of marijuana,
crackcocaine or LSD."