Whether it is shotgunned in the Blue Zone before a football game or mixed with soda at a section party, alcohol appears to be a dietary staple for most of the student body.
For some students, however, partying hard entails far more than liquid intoxication. At Duke, illicit drug users constitute an active minority that operates largely unnoticed.
Approximately 68 percent of Duke undergraduates reported drinking in the 30 days before they completed last Spring’s National College Health Assessment Survey. Just less than 10 percent said they had used marijuana in that time period.
Students interviewed described the hard drug scene at Duke as secretive but dynamic, with cocaine use especially prevalent.
Tom Szigethy, associate dean and director of the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Center, estimated that 1 to 3 percent of students recreationally use drugs other than alcohol and marijuana.
“In my over 11 years at Duke, I can only think of a handful of times when we have actually found a student in possession of cocaine,” Stephen Bryan, associate dean of students and director of the Office of Student Conduct, wrote in an e-mail.
Nevertheless, Bryan is aware that just because administrators rarely catch students using or dealing drugs does not necessarily mean that some are not doing so.
Drug culture at Duke is discreet and diverse. Members of the community range from the casual weed smoker to the enterprising student who deals 8-balls—about 3.5 grams of cocaine—out of his dorm room.
For drug dealers at the University, business is cyclical, waxing and waning throughout the semester. Felix, a junior and former drug dealer whose name has been changed for his protection, said demand for his products was high during the drop/add period and dipped during finals week. In a typical week, he would sell 1.5 pounds of marijuana and roughly 3 ounces of cocaine. He earned an estimated $6,000 profit from weekly sales—$4,000 from marijuana and $2,000 from cocaine.
“My place had a revolving door on it,” he said. “All hours, people would be knocking on my door [and] calling me.”
Who uses?
Men tend to play a greater role than women in Duke’s drug scene. They are typically the primary purchasers and are more often caught in possession.
This year, the Office of Student Conduct has received 41 reports of suspected drug use and 14 students have been found in violation of the University’s drug policy, Bryan said. All offenders were male.
Indeed, the NCHA survey showed that men use marijuana about 50 percent more often than do women—at a rate of 12.8 percent versus 8.3 percent, respectively.
“I haven’t come across many female potheads in my lifetime,” said Alec, a recent graduate who distributed marijuana, cocaine, psilocybin mushrooms and mephedrone at Duke, among other drugs. His name has also been changed for privacy purposes.
Felix’s clients were usually men. With cocaine, though, he felt guys typically made the purchase and then gave half or more of it to girls for free.
“There’s definitely a fair amount of glorified prostitution,” he said, “But I guess that’s just indigenous to the drug.”
Student dealers said they obtained their products through a variety of sources, both in Durham and outside the state, to capitalize on a social structure that permits drugs to flow to those who seek them.
All students who said they distributed drugs acknowledged providing them to fraternity-affiliated clients.
“The [greek] system definitely facilitates sales,” Felix said. “It makes it really easy to get the word out.”
He added that fraternities typically cater toward freshmen who want to experiment with drugs.
Freshman Michael Hoyle said the fraternities he rushed provided mostly alcohol and sometimes offered marijuana in more private settings.
“It definitely wouldn’t surprise me to hear some fraternities used [harder] drugs during rush,” Hoyle said. “I guess it just depends on the kind of people they’re trying to attract.”
Echoing this notion, Szigethy said drug activity depends on the specific organization, with some placing a greater emphasis on partying than others.
A line between use and abuse
Students deeply immersed in the drug environment may find themselves more consumed by the substances than they had originally intended.
Felix said he eventually stopped handling cocaine because his customers became too intrusive and he grew concerned about his friends’ relationships with the drug.
“I would like to see them not destroy their lives,” he said, adding that while selling cocaine, the line between making easy money and running an exploitative criminal enterprise sometimes blurred. Felix noted that he refused cocaine to friends who appeared dependent.
Alec, who stressed that he never earned profit on the drugs he transferred, said he never cut anyone off from his supplies.
“There have been a lot of people that I’ve introduced a certain substance to and I’ve watched them abuse the s— out of it, and that makes me a little sad sometimes,” he said. “But at the same time, life is all about personal choice.”
Alec quit using cocaine months ago for health reasons but said he struggled with the drug late in his undergraduate years.
“It was really difficult to get out of it mainly because the majority of my friends were also in it,” Alec said, adding that he would use cocaine to study, party and “numb emotional pain.”
Students often get high to mask pain or deal with stress, Szigethy said, noting that the impetus to use drugs is often a deeper problem than the substance itself.
Some students, however, feel they can use drugs recreationally without compromising other aspects of their lives.
As a frequent pot smoker, Oscar—a sophomore whose name has also been changed—said he has a code of conduct for himself. Each morning he makes a checklist of tasks he must complete that day. When they are done, he can smoke.
“There are a lot of really functional, recreational drug users at this school,” Felix said. “That could be anything from smoking weed after a test to going to the bathroom and laying a line out on a bathroom pull-down [during a test].”
Szigethy said, however, that those who use drugs should think about the quality of their lives, even if they are able to complete coursework on time.
“If people really feel they’re getting the full experience of their lives and they’re doing drugs, why are they doing the drugs?” he asked.
Christine Pesetski, assistant dean for off-campus and mediation services, said student drug users may face dropping grades and low class attendance in addition to addiction.
“I don’t know anybody who used drugs the way I used that was successful at school,” said Jason Rice, Trinity ’98.
For Rice, who was arrested in a Durham crack house in the Spring of 1996, being a functioning substance user was impossible.
“I had so much opportunity and potential and I basically said, ‘You know what, that’s good stuff, but I would much rather just get high,’” he recounted. “And I never really got anything out of it, other than just getting high and maybe some temporary relief from some emotional pain. And eventually what I ended up with was a lot of guilt, shame and remorse.”
Rice acknowledged, however, that not everyone shares his propensity for addiction. He has been sober for 12 years.
A tight-lipped institution
The drug scene usually plays out behind closed doors. Students said Duke’s campus provides ample privacy for getting high and making transactions, rendering extreme precautions unnecessary.
“They’re not going to try to figure out a bunch of kids are dealing coke out of their dorms,” Felix said. “Doing drugs on this campus is not difficult. Even if the cops do come to your dorm room, you can just wait them out, and if you’re quiet for an hour, they’ll just leave.”
Bryan said searches of students’ residences without consent are rare and added that they are only conducted if there is probable cause to believe illegal substances are present. Usually, residences are not searched unless criminal search warrants are issued by the Duke University Police Department.
DUPD Chief John Dailey wrote in an e-mail that the police department most often receives calls from housing staff and students reporting the smell of marijuana. At a minimum, those caught are referred to Student Conduct—some may also face criminal charges.
Still, Duke’s hard drug culture remain unseen for most students.
“You don’t really see it... unless you’re actively searching for it,” sophomore Mike Sullivan said.
Bryan said he hopes those students who do seek out illegal substances will consider the consequences.
“How much have they shortchanged themselves because of the impediments presented through their drug use?” he asked.
Alec, though, perceives his drug use differently.
“I think it increased my social life by leaps and bounds,” he said. “I’m in an environment that sucks... and the only escape slash fun side of it on the weekend is to binge drink or do drugs.”
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