Editorial: Drugs at Fairfield: Are they a problem?

It is not every day that student residences are raided by law enforcement agencies and students are arrested on charges of drug dealing. In this week’s article about drugs on campus, Dean of Students Mark Reed called the recent arrests “troubling.”

When such extraordinary events take place on campus, it gives everyone an opportunity to take pause and reflect on the issue. Over the past two weeks, The Mirror has reported on student and administrative viewpoints on drugs and drug use at Fairfield.

The results of our interviews with students and administrators were not surprising to us. Students know that they can get and use drugs, and furthermore, they know they can get away with it most of the time. Administrators know that such drug use goes on, but aren’t concerned that drug use and abuse is a problem at Fairfield.

Both groups are right. Despite the recent arrests, there isn’t a drug epidemic at Fairfield. But any time someone abuses drugs, problems are created for them and those around them. The problems are serious enough that the school should promote drug awareness and education more than they do now.

The only direct warning that students receive about drugs and drug abuse is a lecture during first year orientation. That information is probably lost after the first weekend at Fairfield.

With 126 referrals for drug abuse in 2002, up from 67 in 2000, it is obvious that drug use is not going away. These numbers only represent the number of people who have been caught, so it is probable that the number of students using drugs is much higher. This is not surprising considering the only people who are forced to address the issue are the people who have been caught.

However, it is not effective for the administration to act only as a police force when it comes to drugs. At best this will make students more secretive and less willing to come forward if they or one of their friends has a serious problem.

Since drug use is no more a problem here than at other universities, it would be a good idea to promote education- before drug use becomes drug abuse and before drug use at Fairfield really does become an issue.