Pubdate: Fri, 18 Mar 2011
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2011 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Nanette Asimov
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

UC BERKELEY CO-OPS BEGIN NOVEL CAMPAIGN ON DRUGS

Early in the morning of March 18, 2010, UC Berkeley student John 
Gibson slid into bed, his head spinning from the booze, cocaine and 
pot he'd consumed at the campus co-op where he lived. Instead of 
sleeping it off, the 21-year-old suffered a heart attack that left 
him brain-damaged when no one called 911 until hours later.

The tragedy inspired a closing of ranks within the already insular 
group of 150 students living at the Cloyne Court co-op on UC Berkeley property.

It transformed the lives of the Gibson family of San Diego, which 
filed an insurance claim against the Berkeley Student Cooperative 
that manages Cloyne to recover some of the thousands of dollars they 
spend out of pocket each week on Gibson's medical care.

And for the Berkeley Student Cooperative, which runs 20 properties 
housing 1,275 students, Gibson's overdose - with its unwanted 
publicity, university scrutiny, and possible insurance liability - 
set in motion a public relations campaign this semester to teach 
students the dangers of drug abuse: not to their health, but to their 
bottom line.

"We live under the constant threat that another overdose on BSC 
property will cause the university to terminate one or more of our 
leases," the co-op board's new Community Harm Reduction Outreach 
Committee told residents in a seven-page letter on Jan. 14. Second overdose

What the letter didn't say was that another overdose had already 
happened at Cloyne on July 23, The Chronicle has learned. The victim, 
a man visiting Cloyne, was treated at a local emergency room, 
confirmed Jan Stokley, the cooperative's executive director and one 
of six co-op officials who signed the letter.

"We have to prove to the world that we haven't ignored what happened, 
and that we're doing what we can to prevent it from happening again," 
the letter went on. "Because if we don't, it will be difficult for us 
to obtain the affordable insurance coverage we need."

Indeed, another overdose would be "apocalyptic," the letter said, 
emphasizing the point in stark financial terms:

- -- The co-ops paid $200,000 in legal fees in the 1980s after 
Barrington Hall neighbors sued over "large-scale drug dealing" at the 
co-op. Barrington was closed, and the loss of housing for 150 
students caused rates at other houses to rise 25 percent.

- -- The co-ops paid $232,000 after a "similar fiasco surrounding 
drugs" at Le Chateau in 2004. That co-op closed, and reopened as 
Hillegass-Parker House for graduate students. But the number of 
residents dropped, so membership rates rose 12.6 percent.

The letter, followed by meetings with residents to discuss harm 
reduction, may be a first attempt to combat drug abuse by appealing 
to students' monetary instincts rather than to their health risks.

The financial incentive to stay clean is real: Co-ops charge $6,600 a 
year. Dorm living costs $14,000 to $17,000.

"Many of our members would not be able to stay in school if they 
didn't have access to our housing," Stokley said.

Yet it's a message that angers Gibson's mother, Madelyn Bennett, and 
other parents who accuse the private, nonprofit co-op and UC Berkeley 
- - landlord at Cloyne and three other co-ops - of tolerating drug use 
except when it threatens their finances.

The harm reduction committee's letter says it was prompted by 
Bennett's insurance claim, and asks: "Why in the world should the BSC 
be held responsible for the harm this member suffered as a result of 
his own illegal acts?"

It's a stunning question to Bennett, who says the delay in calling 
911 transformed her son from a popular student with a social 
conscience into a bed-ridden invalid unable to speak or feed himself.

"I would like to remind all co-op members that as a community, you 
should be responsible for what happens within that community," 
Bennett told the Daily Cal newspaper in an unpublished letter.

"Last year, a man whose daughter overdosed at Casa Zimbabwe begged 
the university to step in and do something about the rampant drug use 
at the co-ops so that no other family would have to go through what 
his did," Bennett wrote.

"The university did nothing, and now my family is reliving the 
tragedy of his family. And why? Because (the co-ops) won't take 
responsibility for drug use."

Bruce Clark of Carmel Valley agrees. His 21-year-old daughter was 
living in Casa Zimbabwe in 2009 when two residents shared their LSD.

"She took this acid trip and has never been the same since," said 
Clark, who asked that she not be named. "Our daughter told us that 
she also received many other substances there, you name it." Buckets of pot

While his daughter was in the hospital, Clark snapped photos of 
dozens of buckets of marijuana plants growing at the co-op Casa 
Zimbabwe, which is not owned by UC as Cloyne is. He expected outrage 
from co-op management, but said he was told simply that the plants 
had been destroyed.

Unable to return to school, Clark's daughter relies on state 
disability. Clark feels "angry and frustrated" at the co-op houses and at UC.

"Had they heeded the warning, had they taken real action, the 
(Gibson) tragedy may not have occurred," he told The Chronicle, 
unaware of the overdose at Cloyne in July, or that two months earlier 
police arrested someone else at Cloyne for narcotics possession, records show.

On Aug. 1, The Chronicle told Gibson's story for the first time in an 
article about drug abuse on campuses.

As the fall semester began, UC Berkeley and co-op leaders met to 
discuss university concerns about the "persistent, negative 
perception of a problematic culture of drug abuse, most recently 
connected to Cloyne Court," Vice Chancellor Harry Le Grande wrote in 
a follow-up letter.

They agreed to strengthen the co-op's relationships with UC police 
and the campus health center. University concerns

On Sept. 23, Vice Chancellor Edward Denton wrote Stokley that the 
university "is increasingly concerned about incidents at Cloyne Court 
involving drug overdoses." He invoked a lease requirement that a 
residence manager move in, which was done.

In December, the Berkeley Student Cooperative adopted a new substance 
abuse policy with a "Good Samaritan" clause letting students call 
police or paramedics for someone in trouble without fear of being 
disciplined by the co-op board. Gibson's mother wants a more drastic 
measure taken.

"I would like to close the co-ops," Bennett said. "They're just 
saying you won't be punished if you do the right thing - but you 
don't have to. Berkeley, as a school, should say, 'If you don't call 
911, you're out of here.' "

That's unlikely, said Le Grande. Even after the overdose in July, UC 
Berkeley did not move to shut Cloyne. "The problem is you displace 
150 students, and what would you do with them?" Le Grande asked.

Meanwhile, the co-op's website introduces its revised drug policy 
with this comforting assurance: "It's definitely NOT zero-tolerance."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom