The student body of Northeastern University is obligated to abide by a Code of Conduct, for the purpose of "promot[ing] the safety and welfare of the Northeastern community". Item #2 of the Drug Policy section of the Code explicitly prohibits the possession and consumption of 1) illegal drugs, 2) salvia divinorum, 3) precription medications belonging to another individual, 4) over-the-counter substances, 5) nitrous oxide, and 6) "other available substances to "get high" or induce a mind-altering state [sic]".



Despite this explicit ban on the possession or consumption of mind-altering subtances, there are several distributors of such psychoactive drugs operating on campus. This is not the result of ignorance, but, shockingly, of approval and collusion on the part of the University. Disturbingly, the use of the substance in question has been linked to acute intoxiation and overdose, chemical dependency, hypertension, and tachycardia; this dangerous mind-altering substance, caffeine, is sold by Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts as the active ingredient in "beverages" that are primarily consumed for the cocaine-like stimulant effects.

We therefore implore the Board of Trustees to continue the good work of keeping us members of the Northeastern community safe from ourselves by evicting the egregious caffeine dealers from campus. This is fully in keeping with the Code of Conduct--any psychopharmacologist would report that caffeine is a mind-altering substance and therefore banned under the Drug Policy. And once caffeine is banned, I hope the University will consider a crack down on other psychoactice chemicals like sugar, which, terrifyingly, stimulates the brain's dopaminergic reward/pleasure system (the origin of such horrors as opioid and methamphetamine addiction). For according to the Code of Conduct, there is an infinitely long list of mind-altering chemicals and choices regarding the use thereof that the University must protect us from.