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By Dennis Yusko
dyusko@timesunion.com
Published:
Friday, April 24, 2009
Albany Times Union
SARATOGA SPRINGS -
Facing criticism for not cracking down on an outdoor pot-smoking
party earlier this week, Skidmore College officials say they
will work with police and others to come up with new ways to
discourage substance abuse.
More than 100 students
reportedly met near a pond on the college campus Monday to smoke
marijuana, which was April 20. That date, known as "420" for the
police code for marijuana smoking, is marked in many places by
public gatherings of pot smokers.
Neither campus security
nor city police broke up the pot party, which became an issue
after The Saratogian newspaper published a story about the event
and a photograph of students apparently smoking from a papier
mache hookah shaped like an octopus.
Police, college and
city school district officials and substance abuse professionals
will meet at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at Skidmore to discuss what
happened and how to respond, Saratoga County District Attorney
James Murphy said.
Murphy said no one can
be prosecuted for their part in Monday's gathering. His
announcement came after a local cleric and a candidate for
political office criticized the college and city police at
Tuesday's City Council meeting for not responding to the event.
"I am incredulous at
the scofflaws running Skidmore College," Pastor Eleanor Stanton
of the Presbyterian New England Congregational Church said.
"The message is clear:
Little Johnny, go ahead and smoke dope," Richard Wirth,
candidate for public safety commissioner, said.
Skidmore officials said
no action was taken against the students because campus officers
on patrol did not see anyone openly smoking. The college has
assigned Dean of Student Affairs Rochelle Calhoun to work with
Murphy, police and others to explore new ways of battling drug
and alcohol use.
City Police Chief Ed
Moore said city police were surprised by the number of people
and drug use at the event.
The department's four
units working on Monday responded to 11 calls, including a
larceny and two domestic violence situations, he said. Moore
said April 20 will be handled differently next year.
Possessing small
amounts of marijuana is a violation, while using it is a
misdemeanor.
According to a recently
released survey of youth and parents conducted by the Saratoga
Partnership for Prevention, almost 36 percent of high school
seniors in the city school district said they had used marijuana
in the past 30 days, compared to 19 percent nationally.
A bill to allow medical
use of marijuana was introduced this week in the state
Legislature. The measure would protect patients from arrest for
using pot if their doctors recommend it.
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