Honesty and cooperation

A Murray Hall resident chose to enter a diversion program after UW-Eau Claire Police found marijuana in his room April 12.

At approximately 9:02 p.m., a resident assistant contacted police upon noticing the odor of marijuana on the third floor. Before the officers’ arrival, she saw a male subject enter the room she believed the odor to be coming from, according to a campus police report.

The resident assistant did not believe the male she spotted was associated with marijuana use.

The responding officers did not notice the odor of marijuana upon entering the third floor, but instead observed the strong scent of cologne and a draft coming from the room. After checking all other doors, the officers knocked.

A male subject answered the door, and gave the officers consent to enter. There was another male subject sitting at his desk inside. Both later confirmed they were residents of the room.

The resident who opened the door explained he had just gotten to the room, and did not know why police received the complaints. The other resident stated he “would be honest,” and admitted to smoking marijuana the night before on Putnam Rock, but not since then. He also admitted that there was marijuana inside the room.

When the responding officers asked where he kept the marijuana, the subject handed them his backpack, and explained that the marijuana had fallen out of its container and was all over the bottom of an interior pocket.

Upon opening the backpack, the officer immediately noticed the strong odor of marijuana, and found several “nuggets” of marijuana at the bottom. The officer also found a package of rolling papers, and four partially consumed bottles of mixed vodka drinks.

The officer then asked if there were any more illegal items within the room, and the subject stated he had a glass pipe in his desk. Inside the desk drawer, the officer found the glass pipe and a 1.5 liter bottle of Burnett blue vodka. The subject who answered the door also told the officer there was a can of Coors Light beer inside the refrigerator.

Rather than citing the subject for the possession of both marijuana and alcohol, the officer simply disposed of the alcohol, and the student agreed to enter a diversion program in lieu of drug charges.

“Kicked out”

A resident assistant reported the scent of marijuana on the third floor of Horan Hall to campus police, April 12.

During his nightly rounds, the resident assistant on duty noticed the scent coming from a specific room, and also observed a towel shoved underneath the door at about 10 p.m.

He knocked, and when a male resident opened the door, he detected an “overwhelming” odor of marijuana coming from the room.

As the responding officer went to the third floor, he observed a subject he had made previous contact with leaving the building. As he arrived at the reported room, he noticed the name on the door matched the subject he had just seen leaving. The officer yelled his name and requested he come back to speak with him.

The officer spoke to the male subject outside of the bathroom. When the officer requested they step inside his room, the subject stated he did not want to go to his room.

From outside the room, the officer could detect the odor of marijuana. The subject claimed he noticed the odor too. The officer also observed his eyes were “red and glossy” in appearance.

The subject continued explaining he had been taking a nap all night, but his friends came over to watch “Game of Thrones” about an hour ago, and had already left and none of his friends had smoked prior to coming to his room.

The subject claimed he “did not know” why there was a towel underneath the door earlier.

The officer then told the subject he knew he was under the influence of marijuana, and asked him to retrieve any illegal items inside the room. As the officer said this, he noticed the subject “averted his gaze,” and continued to deny any illegal items being present inside the room, according to the police report.

The subject then stated he was already being “kicked out” of the dorms from his three previous contacts with campus police, and he did not know where he would be staying. Due to this, the officer allowed the subject to leave.

After checking the room, and those surrounding it, the officer could still detect the odor of marijuana, but failed to make contact with any other residents.