UMD Ranks 7th in Nation for Drug and Alcohol Arrests
By:
DULUTH - UMD is getting national attention for something they may not be so pround of, but university officials say it's actually a result of proactive on-campus policing.
UMD came in 7th in the nation for most drug and alcohol related arrests on a college campus. Campus officials say even though this sounds distressing, they're looking at it as a positive.
They say this proves UMD has one of the safest campuses in the nation.
UMD police are happy to make arrests because every student that is arrested for a drug or alcohol-related incident goes through an education process about their offense.
"We start dealing with some of these problematic behaviors on the front end while they're still status offenses and misdemeanors and things we can hopefully educate people out of, before they turn into sexual assaults, assaults, disturbances," said Capt. Scott Drewlo, UMD Director of Police.
Drewlo said this survey doesn't necessarily mean UMD students use more drugs and alcohol than students on other campuses, but the outdoor environment may bring out their risk taking attitude.
A committee including UMD Police and UMD Health Services, called Tri-Campus Coalition, is currently doing research to see what is driving the alcohol and drug use on campus.