Arrests for drug crimes are steadily decreasing on the Cal State Fullerton campus.
In 2013, there were 139 University Police drug-related arrests, according to UPD crime stats. In 2014, those numbers went down to 75 and and in 2015, down to 34. There were no arrest statistics available for 2016 or 2017.
California passed Proposition 47 in 2014, which reduced the personal possession of most illegal drugs to misdemeanor. The sales of these drugs are still illegal, said UPD Corporal Jesse Blanpied.
Possession crimes were reduced to citations instead of arrests.
“They come here, we give them a ticket, and then we release them out the back and take their drugs from them, and then the courts do everything else,” said University Police officer Karlton Bridgewaters.
The University Police includes offenses by both students and non-students on its crime log. There were 40,235 students enrolled for the fall 2016 semester, and Blanpied called the campus a “small city.” The majority of drug crimes are committed by non-students.
“This is a public university, anyone is allowed to come here at anytime,” Bridgewaters said.
Bridgewaters and Blanpied said adderall is one of the most common drugs they run into. Even if someone on campus has a lot of adderall and is giving it away, they can be arrested for “furnishing,” Blanpied and Bridgewaters said. It can also impair driving.
“If you get behind the wheel under the influence of adderall, you’re going to get arrested,” Bridgewaters said.
Although there are legal drugs, they can still be addictive and can affect students’ academic goals, Bridgewaters said.
If a CSUF student gets in trouble with drug possession on or off campus, their future with the university can be compromised, Blanpied said. The Dean of Students gets involved in these cases to make students aware of available resources.
“Every case is unique. A lot of what we look for in the violation is not just the violation itself but what the need is, what the problem is and how it is impacting the community,” said Amanda Davidson, interim director of Student Conduct.
Sometimes the issue is stress management, not the drug itself, Davidson said.
University Police jurisdiction extends a mile around campus, so citations are not limited to people on campus. These included offenders who possessed drugs while in a vehicle.
In 2013, two citations were issued for possessing under 28.5 grams of marijuana in a vehicle. In 2014, there were four citations issued under that violation and in 2015, there were three, according to UPD crime stats.
Among students living on campus, drug related citations rose slightly from 2013 to 2014 and decreased slightly from 2014 to 2015.
In 2013, three citations were issued in housing for possession of marijuana. In 2014, there were six citations for possession and in 2015, there were five, according to the crime stats.
Marijuana-related citations in general decreased significantly between 2014 to 2015, going from 12 down to five. Half of the 2014 citations were sales-related, whereas there were no sales-related citations in 2015.
The Health Center provides workshops and counseling sessions to students who may be dependent or addicted to drugs. There are also prevention and educational presentations that allow students to learn about how drugs ultimately affect physical and mental health.
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