One-time marijuana users now face eviction under ResLife agreement

Students living in residence halls can now be evicted for being caught using marijuana just one time, under a new residence life policy.

Students were asked to sign a new agreement upon moving into the residence halls this year that details a host of offenses that can result in eviction.

The agreement, titled "Ways to Get Evicted," is a part of a new illegal substance policy that the UA Department of Residence Life has started this year, which sets a "one-strike" rule against illegal substances in an effort to combat rising drug usage.

Marijuana use at UA is rising, according to the 2002 Wellness Survey conducted by UA Campus Health Promotion and Preventative Services.

Carolyn Collins, Campus Health director of health promotion and preventative services, said 1,281 UA students were surveyed last spring semester for the 2002 Wellness Survey. Of those, 26.7 percent said they had used marijuana within the last month.

The number who reported marijuana use is up from the 2001 Wellness Survey, in which 23 percent of the 1,220 students surveyed said they had used marijuana within the last month.

"The majority of students have not used [marijuana]," Collins explained. "But a large amount have used and we don't of course know the extent of that usage."

The latest research from the Core Institute ÷ a federally funded institution that conducts national alcohol and drug surveys ÷ showed annual usage of marijuana among college students had increased steadily since 1990.

Students who used marijuana were less likely than those who did not use it to study for two or more hours a day and were more likely to have a grade point average of B or less, according to the Core Institute.

Walter Goncalves, a UA second-year law student, said marijuana use is not a problem.

"I think it's a lot safer than a lot of other addictions we have in our society," Goncalves said. "I don't personally use it, but I think it should be legalized."

Jon Jordon, a UA communications junior and resident assistant for Manzanita-Mohave Residence Hall, said he hasn't noticed a changed in marijuana use in the three years he has lived in the residence halls.

He said the new "no-tolerance" policy should help keep marijuana use down.

Students no longer receive warnings or "second chances" to rectify a drug abuse problem in the residence halls.

"Any resident seen smoking or using a drug is immediately evicted," Jordan said. "All drug paraphernalia will be removed also. No more using it as decoration in dorm rooms."

Ateet Achrekar, a UA management information systems senior, has been living in the residence halls for two years.

"I see (marijuana use) at a pretty consistent rate," Achrekar said. "On average I'd say one fourth of the wing have tried it or do it."