“Recently a small bag with a white powdery substance was found on the inside liner of a trash can at Yuba College. When Net 5 responded to the call the substance turned out to be flour.” reported Dennis Dunn, Chief of Police at Yuba College.
Dunn said, “Six or seven years ago we had a few on-campus arrests per year; however, in the last two years drug arrests have been almost non-existent.” One Yuba College arrest for possession of marijuana was made in March of 2001. The female dorm student who was arrested was expelled from Yuba College.
According to Dunn we are one of the cleanest colleges as far as drug related arrests are concerned. “It’s not that we are not looking. There are lots of tips. We’re just not finding anything.”
A study done by the Justice Policy Institute shows that California leads the nation in drug offender imprisonment with 2.5 times the national average, as of 1999. Information from the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs shows that in 1999 Yuba County had 563 adult drug-related arrests (264 being felony and 299 misdemeanor). In that same year 546 adults were admitted for drug treatment in Yuba County.
Sara Harris, the nurse of Yuba College’s Health Department, said, “Our area is ideal for drug production. Anytime that there is poverty, you see a lot of crime, disease and illegal drug use.”
When asked about the confidentiality of a student looking for help with a drug abuse problem Harris said, “Anyone who comes here looking for help with a substance abuse problem will remain completely anonymous. The first thing I would ask is what they are having problems with, then give them the proper referral.”
Since the statistics show that drug use is exceptionally high in our area, the fact that Yuba College is, according to Chief Dunn, one of the cleanest colleges for drug arrests, remains astounding. Chief Dunn provided a website, http://epe.ed.gov/security/, that provides security statistics on more than 6,000 colleges, including Yuba.
One Yuba College student who has done various drugs since his sophomore year in high school stated that marijuana is a very predominate drug among Yuba College students. This student went into detail saying, ” I smoke with every meal and know of about 70 other students who also smoke marijuana.” The student added, ” I could name 8 students who deal marijuana at (Yuba) college.” The student did not indicate that he ever brought marijuana onto the campus.
According to police records, Yuba College has clean hands as far as criminal behavior and drugs go. Since no local surveys have been conducted at this college and not many people like to admit that they are doing something illegal, we cannot know with certainty approximately how many students are drug users. Whether Yuba College is affected by the drug use in our community remains to be seen.
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