Are Our Universities and Colleges Being Utilized as Illicit Drug Distribution Centers?

While some of our finest young citizens are preparing for careers at universities and colleges, many of them face the insidious marketing techniques of international drug trafficking organizations. Colleges and universities in every corner of the U.S. have become outlets for distribution of such drugs as cocaine, marijuana and club drugs like Ecstasy (MDMA) and GHB.

The scene blew wide open with the arrest of nearly 100 people in the San Diego area in May 2008, many of them students at San Diego State University. Omar Castaneda, one of the people arrested after the year-long investigation, was associated with the violent Tijuana drug cartel.

In April 2009, four Penn State University students were charged with the distribution of more than 400 pounds of marijuana worth more than $1 million. Three of these students were members of fraternities on the campus. Even suburban Stow, Ohio, home to 35,000 people and just five miles down the road from Kent State University, was discovered to be a destination for cocaine distributed by the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.

And in many locations around the country, cities with universities are easy targets for organizers of raves, all night parties where illicit club drugs such as Ecstasy, rohypnol and GHB are consumed.

“Our young people in universities and colleges deserve the chance to obtain their educations and go on to successful careers,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s largest drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “Instead, some of them are losing everything to arrest or addiction. Narconon is dedicated to creating a drug-free environment where families can send their children safely off for higher educations. We achieve this goal by rehabilitating those who have become addicted and by educating tens of thousands of students about the dangers of drug use.”

In the last year, Narconon drug education presenters have educated more than 65,000 children in a four-state area on why they should live drug-free lives. The Narconon rehabilitation program helps those who have become addicted to drugs or alcohol with a long-term program that uses no drugs either in the drying out period or any other portion of the program. After completion of the Narconon program, seven out of ten graduates go on to live drug-free lives.