Open Letter Regarding New College Drug and Alcohol Policy
To President Donal O’Shea:
New College is an institution that houses young adults who experience freedom from parental supervision for the first time in their lives. As such, they may be inclined to experiment in many different ways, including, but not limited to, substance use. New College students have historically, are, and always will partake in substances, regardless of the legality.
New College faculty is tasked with providing an education to their students while administration is tasked with keeping the students safe. Unfortunately, students at New College are continuing the use and abuse of substances without reliable access to scientifically-accurate information about long term health implications, acute toxicity, mixing substances, and/or addictiveness. This lack of information has created an unsafe and uninformed community, and contributed to the overdoses that occurred in May. A reduction in the risk and harm associated with substance abuse means active involvement by school administrators to make the student community better informed.
More detrimental than a lack of information, New Colleges students do not feel safe to tell health educators or guidance counselors about their friends or their own addiction for fear of criminal investigations and repercussions. A policy of harm reduction, moving away from criminalization, would be primarily concerned with student safety and preventative measures. An improvement in student safety and health will mean an improvement in community relations. Improved community relations will be a long term benefit for the school’s culture, reputation, and funding.
Lastly, substance abuse and addiction are health concerns. They should be treated as such. We need to address addiction and substance abuses as the health problems that they are. As a community, we need to be cognizant of the root causes of substance abuse (depression, anxiety, etc) and informed on recognizing symptoms of addiction and substance abuse and how to respond appropriately.
Following are specific policy changes to be considered in addition and in contrast with the recommendations made by the Alcohol and Drug Policy Task Force that we suggest be implemented to reduce abuse of and harm done by substances
Educational Changes
Problem: Orientation failed to include detailed information about drug abuse, overdose prevention, and toxicity
Solution:
At New College, during orientation week, we recommend including a seminar on substance interaction and lethal dosages, recognition and action in response to overdose, and alcohol poisoning. We also recommend the distribution of posters and pamphlets that list different substances overdose symptoms and alcohol poisoning symptoms, including pictures and information including appropriate response measures. Lastly, we recommend providing information about addiction. Specifically informing students on recognizing patterns of addiction in their own behavior and in others and by providing access to AA/NA on campus.
The information provided by the university should be accurate and presented clearly by a medical professional. Ideally, New College alums Earth and Fire Erowid should be invited to come to New College as part of orientation.
Healthcare for Substance Abuse
Problem: Substance abuse and addiction are taboo topics. As such, information on recognition of symptoms of addiction is not well publicized.
Proposed Solution: Information on addiction and Presence of NA/AA on campus
During orientation week, inviting guests from local addiction recovery clinics and/or nonprofits dedicated to providing information and resources for individuals suffering from addiction, such as Leslie Glass, with Reach Out Recovery. This conversation needn’t focus solely on substance abuse, addiction can manifest in regards to many facets of life. As such, this talk would benefit the entire community.
Providing access to Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous on our campus would eliminate barriers to access that many New College students face when attempting to deal with their addictions. A problem that we’re seeing now, is that before the Counseling and Wellness Center is willing to offer these programs, they need a vested interest from a specific number of students. But that is not really how addiction works. Helping students suffering from addiction means A. helping them realize that they have a problem then B. the long and arduous process of recovery. But in order to get to step B, we need to have a program readily available for our student body.
Health Administration
Problem:
Students do not feel safe to tell health educators about their or their friends addiction for fear of criminal investigations and repercussions.
Solution:
New College should employ, and have on call, a healthcare worker who can provide naloxone to students so that students can feel safe calling for help without involving campus police. If such a health care worker is not immediately available, the medical amnesty/good Samaritan policy should be strengthened and clarified so that students will not hesitate to call campus police.
This healthcare worker could also function as a resource for students and faculty to turn when they believe that a fellow student is abusing drugs. More than a few members of the New College student community observed a group of students abusing opiates and other substances. The community was concerned, but had no clear means to report their concerns without fear of criminal repercussions for themselves or the addicted parties.
At New College, a medical amnesty/good Samaritan policy exists. However, it does not extend to organizations hosting the events (eg. if a student comes from a university-sponsored party). It also does not extend to any substances found at the location. This is flawed.
Two years ago, a student was experiencing alcohol poisoning and the NCPD were called to help. New College Police officers arrived at the room and instead of first aiding the student, when they saw a violation of the Drug and Alcohol Policy they first investigated that. Intoxicated students were interrogated and a student was then handcuffed and baker acted. After this point, aid was provided to the girl experiencing alcohol poisoning. This ordeal highlights the flaws with New College’s medical amnesty policy. The first flaw is that the New College Police feel that they are first and foremost agents of the state’s laws and not agents of the university. As such, they nondiscriminatory enforce the law in whatever capacity they can.
The second flaw is that the purpose of Medical Amnesty is to protect students from fear of repercussions for calling authorities in medical situations, this incident completely destroys that protection. The third flaw in this situation is that the New College police were so much more concerned with making an arrest than they were with helping a sick student. The fourth flaw in this situation is the fact that the violation of the drug and alcohol policy included Marijuana Brownies. New College Police must have gone to extreme length to discern that the brownies that they found contained marijuana, as marijuana brownies do not visually appear any different than regular brownies.
Sanction Policies
Problem: Campus Police and Criminal Sanctions are First Resort, not Last
Proposed Policy Solution: Graduated Sanctions.
One of the first things to do is to classify proscribed substances into one of three categories, low risk, some risk, and high risk. New College’s Task has decided to classify drugs as either “minor” or “major” offenses. The justification for their classification system has yet to be explained fully.
The federal government’s scheduling system is not the guideline for their classifications as a schedule 1 drug (Marijuana) is considered a “minor” offense while a schedule 3 drug (Ketamine) is considered a “major” offense. New College’s current system is also not based upon health outcomes, as alcohol is far from a low risk drug. Classifying underage alcohol violations as a minor offense is not based upon health outcomes but instead upon it’s legality for those above the age of 21.
New College administrators are conflating two conflicting ideals, to prevent harm (by essentially ignoring marijuana usage because of it’s low health risk, despite its federal status), and to follow the law (by not strongly penalizing a very harmful drug — alcohol, but penalizing other, less harmful drugs — MDMA, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide [LSD], Psilocybin). Instead of sending mixed messages, New College should promote the former ideal more than the latter.
The college should completely remove the criminal justice system route for low and moderate risk substances and even further, remove the criminal justice system route for first and second time offenders of high risk substances. As stated previously, substance abuse and addiction are health concerns, not criminal justice ones.
Suggested Sanctions for infractions of the drug policy for low risk substances and moderate risk substances
Education
Disciplinary Warning
Community Service (for moderate risk and repeat offenders)
Restrictions from College Sponsored Substance Friendly Events (for moderate risk and repeat offenders)
Suggested Sanctions for infractions of the drug policy for first and second offenses of high risk substances.
Education
Disciplinary Warning
Community Service
Restrictions from College Sponsored Substance Friendly Events
Disciplinary Probation
Mandatory Drug and Alcohol Counseling Sessions (For repeat offenders)
Suspension from residential campus until 30 days of sobriety (For repeat offenders)
If the college deems appropriate, and the student continues to engage in high risk substance use after a second offense, involving law enforcement would be a last resort measure.
If a student is found to be distributing substances low risk substances their sanction can be chosen from the second list and if a student is found to be distributing high-risk substances, involvement of law enforcement may be a necessary last resort measure.
Ultimately, we need to refocus Campus Police’s priorities. Perpetrators of Sexual Assault are a danger to the community. Threats of physical violence a danger to the community. A non-student threatened our student body by saying, “I’m out tonight, I hope you’ve got some fast legs,”, “Go ahead and rape someone…”, and “Be warned, your safe spaces are mine,”, and Campus Police took him out for coffee, and failed to make an arrest. This sort of laissez faire attitude regarding real and legitimate campus threats should be eliminated. We, the New College Student Body, will not tolerate the criminalization of addiction and decriminalization of violence.
Task Force Recommendations
Enforcement
1. “Reed employs Community Safety Officers that enforce the drug and alcohol policies. The policy
articulates the roles of Community Safety Officers and the local police force and explains when
either group would be involved in handling a violation.”
As stated previously, we want to involve the criminal justice system to a minimum extent, criminalizing the student body will neither enhance student safety nor decrease abuse.
“The use of drugs that are inherently dangerous should be dealt with more aggressively.”
New College needs to solidify the meaning behind “inherently dangerous.” New College must also, when using the word “ aggressive” mean aggressively pursue harm and risk reduction approaches.
Clarify areas where drinking for those over 21 is allowable
Eliminate the “allowable drinking locations” on campus — if a legal age student is drinking alcohol in a on campus, they should not be given a sanction depending on the location, either New College is a dry campus or it is not. Setting up specific locations where drinking is and isn’t allowed only functions to destroy natural communal spaces. (This pertains to the residential side of campus, not permitting students to drink in academic facilities is permissible)
“Revise the position descriptions for the Campus Life Coordinators and/or other roles to specifically include responsibilities related to dispersing pertinent information about local and national trends that may affect safety and wellness on campus.”
This is a good idea.
“The CWC website could be updated to provide more information about drug and alcohol resources. For example, under “Student Resources,” offer a sub-page to students which detail alcohol concerns (including but not limited to a BAC chart and details, a 1-serving of alcohol infographic, safer drinking tips, bystander intervention tips for alcohol poisoning, and New College’s most recent Medical Amnesty and Good Samaritan policy).
This is a good idea.
A closing time for campus events (e.g., 2:00 AM) should be determined and enforced through the use of logical consequences for noncompliance.
A 2AM closing time for campus events is not logical for a community that does not begin socialization until 11pm. This forces intoxicated students to be alone in dorms with no where to go and nothing to do.
Consider additional training for RAs that would (1) improve trust and information flow between students, Residential Life administrators and campus police and (2) increase the rate at which RAs intervene/assist students with substance abuse issues and implement/enforce NCF drug policies.
This is a good idea, however increasing roles for RA’s necessarily means A. Increasing Pay for RA’s and B. Increasing the number of RA’s.
Provide RAs with more detailed training on how to recognize and respond to intoxicated students in non-emergency and emergency situations.
This is a good idea
“The name of PCP needs to be changed for cultural relevance and to reduce stigma.”
Changing New College culture by altering the names of traditional social events will not decrease stigma nor decrease harmful substance abuse.
“The event approval process needs to be clarified and improved, and events need to be monitored for alcohol and drug abuse and opening and closing times.”
This has, unsurprisingly devolved into police officers at every event on weekends staring at students dancing, videotaping students at Kiss Your Crush Wall, and harassing intoxicated students. Allow the community to watch over itself, we do not need an overactive police state to keep safe.
Provide RAs with a larger discretionary fund to support RA-sponsored events (which are substance free) throughout the year.
This is a good idea, see #7.
“Increasing student representation in creating and enriching the campus environment is important. For example, we could erect an outdoor communal space in the Pei I and II dormitories, similar to the Pergola, to improve community relations and increase student exposure to natural sunlight, which can be beneficial for sleep hygiene as well.”
This is a good idea
“Educational programming could be provided more regularly, especially before every large party, on how to manage drinking amounts and remind students about harmful combinations of drugs.”
This is a good idea, Linnae Ponté, with the Zendo Project could be a great asset in this programming. She could be a resource that New College should invite to help teach students about harm reduction, drug interactions, and safety before PCP and other large social gatherings.
Provide extra information and Hang Posters about alcohol poisoning and substance interaction before large campus parties
“More materials need to be made available to students about the risks of abusing drugs and alcohol, and this information needs to be available 24/7. The new NCF Health Educator and the NCSA plan to work together to provide nonjudgmental and accurate information for students.”
This is a good idea
Identification methods that involve alcohol screening may identify students abusing other drugs since multiple studies show that students who use opioids recreationally are likely to co-ingest other substances.
What is meant by alcohol screenings? Regular alcohol screenings are an invasion of privacy and not within the purview of the college to administer. Also, it is not convincing that the correlation between abusing drugs and alcohol screenings is causal. This seems like more work than its worth.
“Students who are at-risk for drug or alcohol abuse are likely to miss classes, so taking attendance is important. If faculty members record multiple unexcused absences, the faculty member should notify the student’s advisor. We encourage faculty and staff to refer students to the Campus Life Coordinators for a Wellness Check by the RAs if there is concern with the student’s poor class attendance or general wellbeing. Once students are referred to the Student Support Team, they can be assessed and helped (although limited follow-up information can be sent back to faculty due to FERPA considerations).”
This is a good idea
“For long-term management, we recommend the hosting of a 12-step program on campus or some other type of addiction recovery group. In addition, information for other local recovery groups should be readily available to students.”
This is a good idea
“After a high-risk event or overdose, the student must be quickly moved into the treatment program outlined in the Appendix.”
This is a much better alternative to the criminal justice route.
“[The Task Force] recommends the implementation of a variety of wellness activities.”
New College should pursue more outdoor campus events to engage a larger swath of the student body in outdoor activities
In conclusion, drafting policy in a vacuum is much easier than employing and implementation. While a policy of criminilzation looks good on paper, its ramifications can be quite serious and can lead to unnecessary overdose. Please consider how the implementation of a harm reduction policy can keep our community safe and healthy.
Sincerely,
Carl Romer
Policy Intern — MAPS
Cohort of 2014 — New College of Florida
Sara Gregory
2nd year
Editor of The Inhibitor Journalism Magazine
Spanish Language and Literature AOC
Jane Helper
Cohort of 2012
SSDP Representative
Oliver Goldsmith
3rd year
SSDP Representative
Former Residential Advisor
Psychology AOC
Hannah Procell
2nd Year
SSDP Representative