University officials said this spring that drug distribution violations rose during this past academic year. While many of the students arrested for dealing marijuana were prosecuted in District court, they faced severe consequences within the University's own judicial processes.
The University's punishment for drug distribution can be as severe as expulsion, and several vocal students and organizations have said that this is too harsh. Administrators argue that the current policy is beneficial to the GW community. Despite measures from student activists, the University seems staunch in its opposition to easing clamps on marijuana rules.
According to the University Police Department crime log, there have been at least five drug law arrests this past year. Drug law arrests include a variety of illicit substances but exclude alcohol.
The four students arrested for possession with intent to distribute marijuana were all processed by Metropolitan Police Department's second precinct, plead guilty to various marijuana charges, and received different levels of probation and community service, according to court documents. Despite the outcome in court, a University spokesperson confirmed none of the four students were enrolled at GW as of May 1.
Student Judicial Services
Director of Student Judicial Services Tara Woolfson said previously that drug distribution cases are typically judged at the University hearing board level.
The board is made up of as many as five student members and one faculty or staff member. It hears high-level, non-academic disciplinary cases that could result in the cancellation of a student's residence hall license agreement, suspension or expulsion from the University.
Woolfson said following an arrest, SJS begins its own investigative process and advises the student of their rights when he or she is suspected of violating the Code of Student Conduct.
According to the code, the minimum sanction for the possession and intent to sell drugs is a one-year suspension. The University considers the offense of distribution serious enough to merit the sanctions of suspension or expulsion, Woolfson said.
The University's punishment for drug distribution can be as severe as expulsion, and several vocal students and organizations have said that this is too harsh. Administrators argue that the current policy is beneficial to the GW community. Despite measures from student activists, the University seems staunch in its opposition to easing clamps on marijuana rules.
According to the University Police Department crime log, there have been at least five drug law arrests this past year. Drug law arrests include a variety of illicit substances but exclude alcohol.
The four students arrested for possession with intent to distribute marijuana were all processed by Metropolitan Police Department's second precinct, plead guilty to various marijuana charges, and received different levels of probation and community service, according to court documents. Despite the outcome in court, a University spokesperson confirmed none of the four students were enrolled at GW as of May 1.
Student Judicial Services
Director of Student Judicial Services Tara Woolfson said previously that drug distribution cases are typically judged at the University hearing board level.
The board is made up of as many as five student members and one faculty or staff member. It hears high-level, non-academic disciplinary cases that could result in the cancellation of a student's residence hall license agreement, suspension or expulsion from the University.
Woolfson said following an arrest, SJS begins its own investigative process and advises the student of their rights when he or she is suspected of violating the Code of Student Conduct.
According to the code, the minimum sanction for the possession and intent to sell drugs is a one-year suspension. The University considers the offense of distribution serious enough to merit the sanctions of suspension or expulsion, Woolfson said.
