CSU Monterey Bay has been listed as eighth among the 50 “druggiest” colleges and universities in the United States by The Daily Beast news blog, just ahead of West Virginia University and just behind State University of New York at Oneonta.
The Beast released its poll Monday, scoring campuses on three factors: student use compared with drug use in the surrounding community, the students’ own rating of drug and alcohol use on campus, and the number of drug-related arrests per capita.
On that basis, CSUMB got a “C” grade for drug use — “A” means a virtually drug-free campus.
Average drug use among people 18 to 25 at CSUMB was just more than 29 percent, compared with just more than 20 percent statewide. On-campus arrests for drug law violations totaled 51 in 2009 among a student population of 4,688, according to The Daily Beast.
College Prowler, “the largest student review database,” according to the Beast, provided the letter grades on drug use. Drug use statistics came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and student populations and drug arrest numbers came from the U.S. Department of Education.
UC Santa Cruz didn’t even make the top 50. Other UC campuses listed included Irvine at 42nd and Santa Barbara at 26th. San Diego State University came in at number 34 on the list, and Chapman University in Orange was 39th.
The other top 10 doper campuses were in the chilly parts of the country: University of New Hampshire was first, followed
by Northeastern University in Dedham, Mass.; Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I.; the University of Maine; SUNY at Purchase, N.Y.; the University of Colorado at Boulder; and in 10th place, Williams College in Williamstown, Mass.
The Beast website includes a photo gallery showing idyllic campus scenes, the sort that are printed in brochures sent out to parents and applicants.
News that CSUMB was high on The Beast’s list didn’t create much of a buzz on campus, said Scott Faust, executive director of strategic communications at the university.
He questioned some of the methodology used by the blog in its ratings.
College Prowler surveyed only 400 of the more than 5,000 college and university campuses nationwide, Faust said. Its website showed comments from only 10 students from CSUMB on the local drug scene, “hardly a meaningful sample.”
As for “arrests,” all but four of the 51 cases cited involved infractions — the equivalent of a parking ticket — for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, Faust said.
First offenders are directed into a drug education program, he said, which is part of the judicial system, and “possession, manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs and paraphernalia is forbidden on campus.”
Drug use among college students is a nationwide problem, Faust said, noting that the most recent numbers show 17 percent of students across the nation reported using marijuana in the last 30 days.
CSUMB’s students are mostly residential, so they spend more time on campus than those who attend colleges where most students go to their homes each day, Faust said. They are more likely to come in contact with university police if they violate drug laws in their dorm rooms.
While “we recognize the challenges of illegal drug use,” Faust said, “The Daily Beast’s report is not anything close to reality for CSUMB.”
Kevin Howe can be reached at 646-4416 or khowe@montereyherald.com.