OU OFFICIAL ASKS STUDENT SENATE FOR PREFERENCE ON NEW POT PROTOCOLS

Ohio University's vice president of student affairs last Wednesday
asked Student Senate to recommend one of two proposed "protocols" for
judicial sanctioning of common B-6 marijuana offenses on campus.

VP Kent Smith reported that since the implementation of a stricter
alcohol policy last year, the number of students receiving alcohol
violations has dropped significantly, while drug and marijuana busts
have increased by 50 percent.

Smith told Senate that there is a 98 percent chance he will go with
the marijuana protocol they favor.

Student Senate is expected this week to choose between "Protocol A"
and "Protocol B," which were both proposed by the OU Review and
Standards Committee.

"Right now there is just a policy with a lot of leeway, and the new
protocol makes it clear to students what will happen," Smith told The NEWS.

Protocol A, with support from four faculty members in the standards
committee, calls for compounded sentences for marijuana and alcohol
offenses. For example, if a student is caught drinking and receives
his first offense, a later marijuana offense would be considered a
second offense and warrant harsher punishment such as suspension or
extended probation. Currently, alcohol and drug offenses generally
are dealt with on separate penalty tracks.

The three students on the standards committee supported Protocol B,
which treats marijuana and alcohol violations as separate offenses.
Under Protocol B, a student found guilty of using pot would not
receive the harsher, compounded penalty if later found guilty of
using alcohol, and that alcohol offense would be considered the first
offense in the alcohol category.

Protocol B would also allow for different intervention programs for
marijuana and alcohol offenders.

No senators supported Protocol A during a show of hands Wednesday
night, and 21 expressed their support for Protocol B.

"The reason people abuse alcohol and marijuana are very different,"
argued Drew Goland, Student Senate's external chief of staff. "If
we're serious about making a difference in peoples lives with these
intervention programs, they need to be detailed to what happened. I
think if you're putting alcohol and marijuana in the same category,
you're giving them a lot of information that doesn't apply to them."

Goland also raised concerns about punishing drug and alcohol
offenders with expulsion and suspension, which can occur after
multiple offenses. He claimed that kicking students out of school
could increase the likelihood that they abuse drugs and alcohol.

Smith told Senate that the university is responsible for striking a
balance between helping individuals and protecting the campus community.

"Are we trying to help them? Absolutely," Smith said. "But we have
to look out for the greater good of our community."

This summer The Athens NEWS reported that some resident assistants
(RA) and students believe that alcohol and marijuana use has not
significantly decreased or increased at OU. They theorized that the
decrease in alcohol offenses following the stricter alcohol policy is
due to a combination of students being more careful not to get
caught, and Residence Life staff being reluctant to expose a fellow
student to possible suspension for a relatively minor repeat offense.

Students also said that marijuana is a common and carelessly used
soft drug at OU.

Smith, however, disputed the idea that Residence Life staffers are
complicit with student drinkers in the dorms.

"I had a meeting with the Residence Life team, and they assured me
that's not the case," Smith told The NEWS after the Senate meeting.

Student Senate will vote on a resolution endorsing one of the
protocols during its meeting at Walter Hall this Wednesday.