UA douses report of lighter ‘pot’ policy

— University of Arkansas at Fayetteville officials made a mistake last week when they posted about 120 fliers that said on-campus penalties for first-time minor drug offenses would be lighter this year, spokesman Steve Voorhies said.

“It was a miscommunication,” Voorhies said. “Someone thought [a new policy] had been approved when it had not.”

An advisory committee recommended reducing the university’s sanction, but the executive committee, which is composed of administrators, didn’t take action before fliers were posted and the policy was changed on the school’s website, Voorhies said.

The proposed change would have meant those caught using marijuana for the first time would face a similar punishment to those caught drinking underage. The punishments for underage drinking include education, community service, censure and a fine.

Instead, students caught using marijuana face stiffer punishments, such as one year of probation, 50 hours of community service and suspended parking privileges for a year.

A campus judicial board decides how to punish students for on-campus violations. The on-campus penalties are leveled in addition to any criminal charge a student may face separately.

Someone in public relations believed the policy had changed and revised UA’s policy online and distributed fliers to be posted on every hall of every dorm. The student newspaper The Traveler ran an article about the policy Aug. 25, which was the first time senior administrators heard about the proposed change, Chancellor G. David Gearhart said.

The executive committee added the suggested policy to its regular agenda Monday morning, when officials declined to support it.

The executive committee would never have lowered the penalty, Gearhart said.

“We are not going to send a message that we are lessening the penalty for drug use,” he said.

A group of students plan to protest the executive committee’s decision, saying the policy was approved and then repealed or vetoed. Stephen Duke, president of Students for Sensible Drug Policy at UA, said he wanted to know why the policy was revoked.

Gearhart said policy changes, particularly those dealing with changes to sanctions for violating state laws like smoking on campus, must be approved by the executive committee.

“Clearly, this should have been reviewed at the senior level,” Gearhart said.

UA students deserve the lighter penalty, said Mason Tvert, executive director for a national campaign to change drug policies at universities nationwide. UA students approved an on-campus referendum by a 67 percent margin in 2008 that said marijuana is safer than alcohol and recommended a lighter sanction, Tvert said.

On-campus sanctions should be the same as those for underage drinking, which contributes to rapes, assaults and death more than marijuana, Tvert said. The current policy indicates drinking alcohol is more acceptable, even though it is more dangerous, he said.

Gearhart said UA officials do not support the assumption marijuana is safer than alcohol.

Spokesman Scott Flanagin agreed.

“The administration never, ever agreed that marijuana was safer than alcohol - that is something no one ever agreed on,” he said.

Outside Maple Hill dormitories Thursday afternoon, students said they hadn’t given much thought to UA’s on-campus drug sanctions. Freshman Blake Caldarera said he didn’t know about the policy and hadn’t looked on the bulletin board in his dorm. Several students said they were busy with classes, making friends and settling in to dorm life.

Flanagin said no students had complained to him about the policy.

A bulletin board inside Maple Hill West had fliers on organizational meetings, group get-togethers, announcements and programs, but none about the policy snafu. Student Affairs plans to put up new fliers by the beginning of next week stating that the policy hasn’t changed, Flanagin said.

Even if it had been re-posted already, students might have missed it.

“I haven’t looked,” freshman Sarah Beisly said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 09/03/2010

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