Tesla Bethel
Lantern Staff
Ever since the legalization of marijuana in Colorado in 2014, areas all over the state of Kansas have been affected. According to a Kansas highway patrol survey conducted by the Attorney General Derek Schmidt, there are increased rates of marijuana pouring into the counties near the border leading to an increase in charges with possession.
Butler Community College is just one of many places affected by the change in Colorado law. Department of Public Safety members Officer Jason Kenney and Chief Tim Bryan have also noticed the steady increase in drug violations. According to Chief Bryan, approximately three quarters of all drug violations are pertaining to marijuana.
Butler is a small campus with considerably lower crime rates than that of a larger campus. However, that does not mean that crime does not happen. The Department of Public Safety does, however, realize that college is a time for experimentation, and they do not want to ruin a student’s future over a first offense.
“The college actually has college sanctions that they will do, and I know on drugs, they have a $350 fine,” Officer Kenney said. “They have to enroll in the Choices Program, and buy a $25 book. We try to work with people as much as we can.”
Students also could potentially face scholarship suspension.
One the other hand, if a student is a double offender or if he or she has enough marijuana in possession to be considered with “intent to sell,” he or she will be arrested. Getting caught with the possession of marijuana is also known as a possession of a hallucinogenic. Also, students should keep in mind that every object found is a charge; a single pipe is equal to a single charge, while a scale, three pipes, and a bong is equal to five charges, and intent to sell. A drug calls quantity of anything less than 25 grams is considered a felony. According to Chief Bryan, Butler even had a drug violation case that occurred on Thursday, Oct. 27.
On a college campus, one might expect students to have a few drinking violations. College carries a stigma of partying. However, in recent years, Butler’s drug violations are higher than that of alcohol violations meaning more people are opting to get “stoned” than intoxicated.
“It’s been a steady increase, and we have actually come across some of the Colorado marijuana in a couple of drug searches that we have done,” Public Safety Officer Kenney.
According to the 2016 Annual Security Report and Related Policies in the year 2013, there were approximately two arrests for drug abuse violations. In 2015, however, Butler had seven arrests on the El Dorado campus, but the non-arrest cases numbers are double. In 2013, there were 12 cases of drug violations handled through campus sanctions, 2014 had 14 cases and 2015 had 16 cases, whereas in 2013 college sanction cases of alcohol violations was at 17, 32 in 2014 and 11 in 2015. Meanwhile arrests for drug violations were low in comparison with zero cases in 2013, a single case in 2014, and only two cases in 2015 compared to the 7 of drug violations. That being said there is a steady increase in drug violations since Colorado legalized marijuana, and with five other states voting soon to potentially legalize, there is a possibility there will continue to be a significant increase.
