News from the Campus Change Campaign

The Campus Change Campaign is SSDP’s flexible approach to reforming campus drug policies. Chapters identify harmful policies at their schools, then work to improve those which are ripe for change. While every school is different, SSDPers can learn from the efforts of their fellow activists, affecting a shift towards more rational campus drug policies nationwide.

• University of Connecticut

A comprehensive medical amnesty policy is close to passage at the University of Connecticut, thanks to the efforts of the school’s SSDP chapter. Dan Cornelius is representing SSDP on the Alcohol and Other Drugs Services Policy Revision Committee, a group composed of students and administrators.

Medical amnesty policies are those that allow students to call for medical help when someone has a drug- or alcohol-related medical emergency, without fear of school sanctions. Though school policies cannot trump state and local laws, administrators often have the power to protect students from legal sanctions as well, simply by declining to involve police when addressing problems. Many administrators understand the value of a policy that has the potential to save lives in emergency situations, even while enforcing otherwise strict drug and alcohol policies.

At a recent meeting, the UConn committee chose to model their program after Dartmouth’s Good Samaritan policy, and the group is working to adapt it for UConn. The policy would allow students to call for help in situations related to both alcohol and illegal drug overdoses. According to Cornelius, administration officials are in favor of the policy, and most of their concerns relate to the language of the measure.

“They want to ensure that students don’t abuse the policy,” he said, explaining that officials want to be certain that the measure would not constrain them from taking action in situations involving physical altercations or property damage. Once the committee passes the measure, it will go to the Board of Trustees, which usually follows the committee’s recommendations.

Dan Cornelius offered advice for others working to establish similar measures. “It’s essential that students work with administration officials to establish a dialogue,” he said. “Most university officials want to take students’ wellbeing into account.”

• University of Central Florida

The University of Central Florida is also close to passing a medical amnesty policy to address alcohol and drug overdoses, though their policy would only apply to a student’s first incident. A resolution has already passed unanimously in the student senate, and the student body president and vice president are both supportive. Now the measure is before the Golden Rule Review Committee, composed of students, faculty, and administrators. If approved, it will go before the administration, which tends to follow committee recommendations.

“We have 48,000 students, so there’s always deaths involving alcohol and drugs,” said UCF SSDP president Tina Kimball. “It’s a huge, huge problem that isn’t really talked about.”

Her advice to other students seeking to pass similar policies is to come prepared and to research drug and alcohol use on campus beforehand. Otherwise, administrators may claim, “We don’t have that problem here.”

Other schools with medical amnesty policies in the works include the University of Georgia, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Truman State University and Tennessee Tech.

• Franklin Pierce College

The SSDP chapter at Franklin Pierce College has recently opened a Harm Reduction Center to provide a safe space for students to get honest, nonjudgmental information about drugs.

The chapter converted its underutilized office space into a center by putting in couches, a desk, and staffing the center Monday through Friday.

“SSDP members will try to answer questions about drugs on the spot and if we cannot we will research the question for students,” said Jonathan Perri.

The center offers information, like the DanceSafe drug information cards and the Drug Policy Alliance’s “Safety First” pamphlet, and the chapter is also creating an online forum. Next semester, they will also provide peer counseling for students with drug problems. The school’s Director of Outreach and Counseling is training SSDP members that are also psychology and social work majors to serve as peer counselors for those with substance abuse problems.

Perri’s advice to other activists trying to start harm reduction centers (HRCs) is to use resources that are already available. “If you already have an office, you basically already have a center--just start handing out info.”

He also pointed out that an HRC is a step towards improving other campus drug policies. “Opening the HRC is also a smart move when thinking about getting a medical amnesty policy enacted at your school. It gives your chapter credibility and opens up relationships with health services, other organizations, and administration members. It lays the groundwork for a campus policy that focuses on health and actually reduces the chances of students getting hurt.”

• Virginia Tech

At Virginia Tech, the SSDP chapter has passed i a resolution through the Student Government Association to create a Drug Policy Review Commission. The bill is awaiting the student body president’s signature before going into effect.

Composed of students and administrators, the commission will review and compare the effectiveness of drug policies at Virginia Tech, its peer institutions, and Ivy League universities. The group will then formulate recommendations to improve campus drug policies, which will be submitted to the university president for approval.

“Hopefully, [the committee’s recommendations] will at least allow first-time marijuana offenders to take drug classes and community service rather than being suspended or expelled, but our chapter will push for even more,” said Virginia Tech SSDP president Kris Reinertson.

• University of Maryland

Student activists at the University of Maryland recently passed a bill through the Residence Hall Association (RHA) Senate, following up on a SAFER initiative passed last year by the student body during student government elections. SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation) initiatives seek to equate marijuana penalties with underage drinking penalties.

The UMD campaign is aimed at ending the policy of evicting students from the dorms for first time marijuana possession offenses. While last year’s initiative showed that the resolution has popular support, passing the bill through the RHA Senate now means that it will be sent to residence life administrators as a formal recommendation. In most cases, administrators follow the recommendations of the RHA Senate.

This bill states that first time marijuana possession in the residence halls should be changed from a Class A violation (with assault, arson, and destruction of property) to a Class B violation (with underage alcohol possession, petty theft, and verbal harassment). Stacia Cosner, UMD SSDP president, said that the chapter worked tirelessly to pass this through the RHA Senate.

“We really encouraged students to go and lobby their representatives, just like you would in the state senate,” she said. The group built support through an e-mail campaign and personal meetings with student representatives.

The success of the UMD bill is the product of years of effort at UMD. A sophomore, Cosner has been continuing the work of previous SSDP leaders.

“As a freshman, I saw a lot of really, really terrible things happening to people when they were caught with tiny amounts of pot on them,” she said. Cosner described how resident assistants (RAs) actively enforce the school policy of calling police to search and arrest students whose rooms smell of marijuana.

“It’s such a long, arduous process. [Students] had to jump through all these hoops in order to stay in school.”

The UMD SSDP chapter has brought this issue to such a level of public awareness that even a member of the Maryland House of Delegates has chimed in on the matter.  In an open letter to UMD Director of Student Life Deb Grandner, Delegate Ana Gutierrez wrote:

“SSDP and other leaders have successfully navigated the complex, governance system at the University of Maryland and should be recognized for their diligence and success in respecting an orderly, political process. These student leaders followed administration recommendations and learned valuable lessons about civic engagement and political change. As an institution of higher learning the University should encourage our best and brightest to have respect for our democratic ideals and principals. A failure to enact an approved residence hall policy recommendation could discourage these promising student leaders in following the democratic process. It is my consideration that the failure to enact the recommendations of the RHA Senate by your office could have more serious implications than would result from a change in residential policy.”

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