Something astonishing happened yesterday: 6 to 7 students were arrested at Southwestern University (SU), the oldest university in Texas, after the Administration allowed police to walk drug dogs around the campus, in all the buildings and around the parking lots. This obviously angered a lot of students on the campus. The Dean of SU, after pressure from some upset students, emails the entire student body saying that illegal drug use can be harmful to a student’s education because of the various punishments they may receive. I have to ask: would these students alleged drug use have been harmful to their education if they hadn’t been arrested? I don’t think so, just look at Presidents Obama, Clinton and Bush.

It is my view that drug policies are supposed to protect us from the real harms of drug abuse, not cause us harm. These students’ lives are now going to be changed forever because of their drug use, whereas before their drug use may have just been a small part of their life. Our past three Presidents have all admitted to using drugs while in college, but they don’t anymore. If any of them had received a criminal record from their drug use, they wouldn’t have been able to be elected President. It’s a simple fact of life that college students drink and use drugs. I’m not saying I like this, but arresting these students, through violations of their rights and privacy is not the best route to curb it. We should instead focus on figuring out why they choose to drink and use drugs, and work to minimize the harms that’s going to come along with it.