EMU police have reported 15 marijuana related crimes on or around campus since the beginning of this year.
Michigan passed the Medical Marijuana Act in 2008 in a 63 percent to 37 percent margin and Ypsilanti became home to the first dispensary to open in accordance with the law in 2009. Since then, two more dispensaries have opened within walking distance of campus.
Despite many being legally able to use and possess marijuana, 12 of the 15 charges have been directly on campus, either in the dorms, Westview Apartments or in any of the lots around campus.
Officer Candace Dorsey from the EMU police department said that this is not a crack down on marijuana; it is just routine work for the department. “A lot of our responses are from reports of people smoking marijuana,” said Dorsey.
Incidents of marijuana use in the dorms have occurred in Phelps, Sellers, Best and Wise halls as well as one in the Student Center Dining Commons.
The other incidents have occurred in the parking lots around campus and during traffic stops in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Since the state legalized marijuana students have obtained their cards for various reasons but Dorsey said the police cannot comment as to whether they have arrested anyone with a medical marijuana card on campus.
When an arrest is made for marijuana it often includes two charges, possession of marijuana as well as a paraphernalia charge. Possession of marijuana incurs its own charge that is determined by the weight of the marijuana and previous charges and paraphernalia incurs its own charges as well.
Paraphernalia is constituted by any object possessed for the use or storage of marijuana and carries its own charges. Objects that constitute paraphernalia include pipes, bongs, etc.; essentially anything that is used for the consumption of marijuana.
These charges are not mutually exclusive and some of the arrests on campus have been just for paraphernalia or just possession, which is a different charge than use of marijuana.
Ypsilanti and EMU do not have such lax marijuana laws as Ann Arbor and arrests on campus usually get handled by Ypsilanti’s police department.
According to Dorsey, some universities will handle marijuana citations internally exclusively but at EMU it depends on the amount.
“It depends on the circumstances of the incident,” continued Dorsey. “It has to do with the amount of marijuana and what the specific violation is. Some things are handled internally and some are handled by Ypsilanti, it depends on what they’re dealing with at the time.”
There are no set guidelines for what cases get turned over to Ypsilanti Police or dealt with by the university.