HIGH TIMES IN NYU DORMS

Student Dealers Main Source of Stash

Student dealers in dorms are a significant source of marijuana for NYU
students, despite administrative claims that student drug dealing is
not widespread, a WSN investigation has revealed.

When presented with evidence that many students purchase and deal pot
in dorms, NYU's Department of Housing and Residence Life insisted that
student drug dealing is not prevalent.

"We are not finding that marijuana sales are occurring in the halls on
a regular basis," said Tom Ellett, executive director of housing and
residence life. "We have not had many students found responsible for
dealing in my time here, and the ones that we have found have gone
through the judicial process."

However, in a recent informal poll conducted by WSN, 85 percent of
students surveyed said it was easy to buy marijuana in their dorms,
while only 15 percent said it was not easy. In the interviews,
students admitted to purchasing pot in Lafayette, Carlyle Court,
Rubin, Weinstein, Hayden, Goddard, Palladium, Water Street and Coral
Towers residence halls.

The survey yielded responses from 134 students from 10 of the
university's 22 undergraduate dorms.

The housing office discovers student drug dealers in dorms by asking
those caught with illegal substances where they bought the drugs.
Ellett said he believes that these students, when questioned by
authorities, are not lying in an effort to protect friends. "Sure, I
believe they tell us the truth," Ellett said. "I would like to believe
all people tell us the truth."

NYU President John Sexton, who earlier this year said he planned to
crack down on drug and alcohol use, did not respond to calls and
e-mails for comment by press time.

Students also admitted to selling pot in residence halls.

One student dealer in Water Street, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity, said he quickly sold a supply of pot and acid tabs he
brought to campus this fall.

"[Drugs] were just flying out of my pockets," the dealer said. "It was
so easy to sell."

Although he said he planned to sell 5 ounces of marijuana and retain 3
ounces for himself, he sold 7 ounces because of high demand for his
product. He began by selling only to a close group of about five
friends, but his network quickly grew to about 20 students.

"I was just a small time beginner who just knew a lot of info," the
dealer said.

He stopped selling after the first month of school because his supply
ran out, and he was afraid of getting caught, he said. "Anyone who's
really smart won't even get involved," he said.

When a student is caught with pot in a dorm, a report is filed and the
student could be kicked out of NYU housing, Ellett said. Protection
Services will decide whether to call the police depending on the
amount of illegal substance found, he said.

However, Protection Services does not receive many complaints of
marijuana use, one guard said.

"It's probably so popular here that you get less complaints," said a
guard who works in several dorms including Palladium, Third North and
Lafayette. "There's so many people doing it that they don't want to
report it."

It is not Protection Services' responsibility to track down students
using drugs in dorms, the guard said.

"We're not police here," the guard said. "It's not our job to go
roaming through the halls."

The job of reporting drug use falls on the shoulders of RAs within the
dorms, Ellett said. But many RAs say that because NYU housing policy
prohibits extensive dorm room searches without a warrant, it is
difficult to catch students with pot.

"We certainly miss stuff," said an RA from a Washington Square Park
area dorm, who asked that his name be withheld. "Unless the student is
dumb and keeps [pot] out in the open, we won't see it."

Obtaining marijuana in NYU dorms is not difficult, the RA
said.

"If you want weed, you can get weed very easily within the dorms if
you know who to talk to," he said. "The drug dealers on the streets of
New York are not to be trusted. Student-to-student is the best resource."

Other RAs expressed similar views.

"Residents have hinted to me that pot is only an elevator ride away,"
an RA from a freshman dorm said. "The main way they're getting it is
through other students in the building."

Ellett would not respond to RAs' claims.

"I'm really not interested in hearing what RAs have to say on this
issue if I don't know their name," Ellett said.

One freshman dealer from Weinstein said he recently stopped selling
because he could not compete with the other drug dealers in the building.

"I couldn't get a good enough price for an ounce where I wasn't losing
money," the dealer said. "If you have a hook-up you can make a bunch
of money, because everyone wants pot here."

The dealer said he regularly sold to about 25 people in Weinstein, and
he knows of six other dealers in Weinstein. The demand for pot is so
high that business has reached the "pound level," he said.

"There are students in every dorm selling pot," he said. "A student
the other day asked me to look into buying three pounds for him."

A recent rise in possession arrests in New York City has encouraged
users to confine their drug habits to private spaces, experts said.

Last year, the city made 60,000 arrests for marijuana possession, up
from 4,000 just five years ago, said Queens College of the City
University of New York professor Dr. Lynn Zimmer, a sociology
professor and author of several books on marijuana-related crime.

Buying pot from a friend has always been the most common sale of the
drug, Zimmer said.

"In terms of the final sale, marijuana has traditionally been between
people who know each other," Zimmer said. Police have difficulty
identifying student dealers, New York Police Department officials said.

"[Students selling in dorms] is definitely a possibility," NYPD
Officer Tim Duffy of the 6th Precinct said. "Unfortunately, we don't
have any procedures in place to operate inside the school. That's all
handled by the school's own security. If there are student drug
dealers, they aren't outside."