The arrests of two

students on marijuana charges this week have riled students who believe administrators should have dealt with the allegations in-house.

At a packed student senate meeting Thursday, some students questioned why the administration chose to call police after campus security officers found two to three pounds of marijuana and a small amount of ecstasy and LSD in the on-campus apartment of two juniors.

Several argued that the private school's decision sends a chilling message across a campus devoted to education and learning.

But college officials said they must uphold an agreement with local authorities on how to deal with student drug use. That, they said, includes calling police when they find evidence of felony drug violations and behavior that could harm student safety. Possessing more than an ounce of marijuana is a felony.

The debate stems from the Monday arrests of two 20-year-old students, Roland B. Shoemaker of Sheffield, United Kingdom, and Manuel A. Abreu of New York City. Officials decided to search their apartment after receiving complaints about alcohol and drugs, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office.

Shoemaker faces charges of delivering marijuana and possessing marijuana, ecstasy and LSD. Manuel A. Abreu of New York City faces a marijuana possession charge.

But the debate also reflects tension within the school community as the administration struggles to change the college's deeply rooted culture of drug tolerance. The college came under police pressure

.

In a letter to students and staff, Reed President Colin Diver said the college would not tolerate illegal drug use on campus: "Such behavior endangers the health and welfare of the entire community, attracts potentially dangerous criminal activity on campus, undermines the academic mission of the college, and violates the college's obligations under state and federal law."

Shoemaker declined to comment. But Abreu criticized college leaders, saying they are cracking down on marijuana because they cannot find people using more dangerous drugs.

"It's not really helping to solve the problem of heroin addiction and heroin overdose and substance abuse," Abreu said.

Abreu and Shoemaker were evicted from their apartment and can come on campus only to attend class, Abreu said.

Diver's letter did not provide specifics, so many students believed the drugs involved in the arrests were heroin or cocaine, said Alex Krafcik, an editor with The Quest, Reed's student newspaper. But once they learned that the students were arrested primarily for marijuana, they felt the administration overreacted, he said.

"I'm not alone at Reed in thinking the drug laws of the country are a bit extreme," said freshman Jack Johnson. Still, he said, the school's crackdown should not surprise anyone.

"Reed likes to think of itself as an island," said James Ng, a 1987 Reed graduate who attended part of the meeting. "There's a lot of friction when it bumps up against the real world."

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