Spring Break
MU sees small increase in substance abuse
Brianna Mulligan
Issue date: 2/8/08 Section: Campus
The 2007 fall semester at Miami University led to slight increase in student violations of underage intoxication and a nearly 50 percent increase in reported drug offenses.
The most popular drug involved with these offenses was marijuana.
But Susan Vaughn, director of ethics and student conflict resolution, believes that the varying amounts of violations are too trivial to be of major concern.
"These (new numbers) vary (from old numbers) by 20-it's very minor," she said. "It's fairly insignificant. But people always want to know if it's going up or down. It really tends to balance out."
The Miami University Police Department (MUPD) recorded about 200 alcohol related violations last semester. Vaughn states that her office reported about 100 drug related offenses in the 2007 fall semester. Last year there was somewhere around 50.
The MUPD's numbers and the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution's numbers do not always correlate exactly with such reports-as the ethics office receives referrals from Miami staff, such as resident assistants and Oxford police, in addition to MUPD reports.
From MUPD's standpoint, they also believe that the numbers have stayed relatively stable throughout the years, with intermittent spikes.
"I would say that our (alcohol violation) numbers are probably running in line with how they've been since 2004," said John McCandless, chief of MUPD. "The rest of the totals are basically similar."
McCandless did state that the number of drug offenses has increased.
"I sense marijuana numbers are up slightly," he said. "But I don't believe there have been dramatic spikes anywhere."
Other violations experienced slight increases, including disorderly conduct, assault and vandalism. These are offenses that often involve the abuse of alcohol, according to the ethics office.
Instances involving false identifications for purchase of alcohol, however, experienced a drastic decrease, with almost one third less violations during fall 2007 in contrast to fall 2006.
The most popular drug involved with these offenses was marijuana.
But Susan Vaughn, director of ethics and student conflict resolution, believes that the varying amounts of violations are too trivial to be of major concern.
"These (new numbers) vary (from old numbers) by 20-it's very minor," she said. "It's fairly insignificant. But people always want to know if it's going up or down. It really tends to balance out."
The Miami University Police Department (MUPD) recorded about 200 alcohol related violations last semester. Vaughn states that her office reported about 100 drug related offenses in the 2007 fall semester. Last year there was somewhere around 50.
The MUPD's numbers and the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution's numbers do not always correlate exactly with such reports-as the ethics office receives referrals from Miami staff, such as resident assistants and Oxford police, in addition to MUPD reports.
From MUPD's standpoint, they also believe that the numbers have stayed relatively stable throughout the years, with intermittent spikes.
"I would say that our (alcohol violation) numbers are probably running in line with how they've been since 2004," said John McCandless, chief of MUPD. "The rest of the totals are basically similar."
McCandless did state that the number of drug offenses has increased.
"I sense marijuana numbers are up slightly," he said. "But I don't believe there have been dramatic spikes anywhere."
Other violations experienced slight increases, including disorderly conduct, assault and vandalism. These are offenses that often involve the abuse of alcohol, according to the ethics office.
Instances involving false identifications for purchase of alcohol, however, experienced a drastic decrease, with almost one third less violations during fall 2007 in contrast to fall 2006.
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