Substance policy to be ready by end of semester

The High Risk Alcohol and Substance Abuse Working Group plans to release its draft of the University’s new substance policy by the end of the semester.

“(We) hope to be wrapping up by the end of this month, but it’s much more important that we resolve these issues than ... have an artificial time frame,” said Jonathan Sauls, dean of students. “But we certainly anticipate being done by the end of this semester.”

The working group focused on prevention, intervention, aid and consequences at its Monday meeting. Sauls emphasized the importance of these factors’ effect on binge-drinking culture at UNC.

“If you’re a fish and you swim around in a polluted stream, you can’t really be surprised when you have an adverse reaction,” he said. “It’s about thinking what are the things that will affect the ... campus environment.”

Working group member and pharmacy professor Timothy Ives called for training to educate the UNC community on dangerous drinking behavior.

“Everybody. If we’re going to do this, we’re getting everybody,” Ives said.

The working group talked about training community directors, instructors, teaching assistants, medical personnel and leaders of campus organizations to recognize substance abuse issues before they lead to academic, legal or medical consequences.

“We are not doing our job if we don’t get those young people referred,” pediatrics professor Dr. Jake Lohr said.

For students battling substance abuse, the working group wants to eliminate barriers to aid.

“We are going the extra mile to include the safe harbor provision to say if you come tell me you have a dependency issue, it’s totally nondiscipline,” Sauls said. “It’s all intervention.”

Dean Blackburn, director of student wellness, advocated for Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students, a program that helps first-offense students self-reflect on their substance use.

Although Blackburn emphasized the high success rate of the program, he said UNC lacks a system for students who have repeated problems with substances.

“We have the new recovery network,” he said. “We don’t have a good mechanism in place to intervene on a consistent basis with students who have second and third alcohol violations.”

Students who come against legal charges or citations might also face University sanctions. The group discussed the importance of enforcing these sanctions while ensuring students are not pushed away from help and education.

Sauls and other members recognized the fact that the alcohol culture will not change overnight.

“It’s not a one-semester change in culture, and it has to be constantly repeated.”

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