Drug Free Commitment Statement

Drug-Free and Smoke-Free Environment

In accordance with federal law concerning a DRUG-FREE campus environment, the relevant University of New Haven's policy and regulations are provided to all current students and employees. The information is also available upon request. No smoking is permitted in any campus residence hall or administrative, academic, or recreational building. Smoking is confined to outdoor space, with ashtrays provided outside each building.

Why We Give You This Information

The Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Amendments of 1989 require an institution of higher education, as a condition of receiving funds or any other form of financial assistance under any federal program, to certify that it has adopted and implemented a program to prevent the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol by students and employees.

As part of its drug prevention program for students and employees, the University annually distributes in writing to each student and employee the following information:

  • standards of conduct that clearly prohibit the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol by students and employees on its property or as part of any of its activities;
  • a description of applicable local, state, and federal legal sanctions pertaining to the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol;
  • a description of health risks associated with the use of illicit drugs and the abuse of alcohol;
  • a description of available drug and alcohol counseling, treatment, rehabilitation, and re-entry programs;
  • a clear statement of the disciplinary sanctions that the University will impose on students and employees who violate the standards of conduct.

The University has conducted a biennial review of its drug prevention program to determine its effectiveness, implement needed changes, and ensure that disciplinary sanctions are consistently enforced. The University will continue to conduct such reviews.

Standards of Conduct

The unlawful manufacture, possession, use, dispensation, or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol by students or employees on university property or as part of any university activity is prohibited. Students and employees must comply with this policy as a condition of enrollment or employment.

State and Federal Legal Sanctions Concerning Drugs and Alcohol

Connecticut Statutes

Connecticut statutes cover a wide range of drug offenses, including the offer, the sale, the possession with intent to sell, the gift, and the mere possession of various types of drugs [Connecticut General Statutes Sections 21a 277, 278, 278a, 279]. Among other provisions, the state laws create the following mandatory minimum prison sentences for first-time offenders who are not "drug-dependent" persons:

  • Five years for the manufacture, distribution, or sale, or possession with intent to sell, of one ounce or more of heroin, methadone, or cocaine (including "crack"), or one-half gram or more of cocaine in a freebase form, or five milligrams or more of LSD;
  • Five years for the manufacture, distribution, or sale, or possession with intent to sell, of any narcotic, hallucinogenic, or amphetamine-type substance, or one kilogram or more of a cannabis-type substance (which includes marijuana);
  • Five years for the offer or gift of any of the above drugs in the respective amounts.

Conviction for illegal possession of drugs carries no mandatory minimum sentence, but the following are the maximum sentences for first-time offenders:

  • Seven years or $50,000 or both for possession of any quantity of a narcotic, including cocaine and "crack," morphine, or heroin;
  • Five years or $2,000 or both for possession of any quantity of a hallucinogen (such as LSD or peyote), other than marijuana, or four ounces or more of a cannabis-type substance (which includes marijuana);
  • One year or $1,000 or both for possession of less than four ounces of a cannabis-type substance, or any quantity of a controlled drug, such as amphetamines or barbiturates.

Any person who possesses any controlled substance within one thousand five hundred feet of the real property comprising a public or private elementary or secondary school and who is not enrolled in such school shall be imprisoned for two years, and that sentence shall not be suspended and shall be in addition to and consecutive to any term of imprisonment imposed under the general possession provisions.

Convictions for drug-related offenses involving minors or in the proximity of elementary or secondary schools carry the following mandatory sentences in addition and consecutive to any term of imprisonment imposed for violations of the statutes which prohibit the distribution, sale, and possession with intent to sell of various types of drugs:

  • Two years for the distribution, sale, offer, or gift of any controlled substance by a person eighteen years or older to a person under eighteen years of age and who is at least two years younger than the person violating a statute prohibiting the distribution, sale, or possession with intent to sell of various types of drugs;
  • Three years for the manufacture, distribution, sale, transport, or possession with intent to sell, dispensation, offer, or gift to another person of any controlled substance within one thousand five hundred feet of the real property comprising a public or private elementary or secondary school or a public housing project;
  • Three years for employing, hiring, using, persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing a person under eighteen years of age to violate a statute prohibiting the manufacture, sale, possession with intent to sell, offer, or gift of any controlled substance.

Actual sentences depend on the severity and the circumstances of the offense and the character and background of the offender.

Connecticut law also prohibits the sale, delivery, or giving of alcohol to minors, intoxicated persons, or habitual drunkards [Conn. Gen. Stat. 30 -86]. The penalty for conviction for delivery or giving of alcoholic liquor to a minor is:

  • Not more than eighteen months or not more than
  • $1,500 or both. Connecticut law prohibits any person to whom the sale of alcoholic liquor is by law forbidden from purchasing or attempting to purchase such liquor or from making any false statement for the purpose of procuring such liquor [Conn. Gen. Stat. 30-89(a)] and provides the following penalty for convictions:
  • Not less than $200 nor more than $500.
  • Moreover, Connecticut law prohibits any minor from possessing any alcoholic liquor anywhere to include private property, on any street or highway or in any public place or place open to the public including any club which is open to the public [Conn. Gen. Stat. 30-89(b)] and provides the following penalty:
  • Not less than $200 nor more than $500.
  • This law does not apply to a minor who possesses alcohol on order of a practicing physician or to a minor who possesses alcohol when accompanied by a parent, guardian, or spouse who is 21 or over. Federal law also penalizes the manufacture, distribution, possession with intent to manufacture or distribute, and simple possession of drugs ("controlled substances") [Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. 841, 843(b), 844, 846, 859, 860]. The law sets the following sentences for first-time offenders:
  • A minimum of ten years and a maximum of life imprisonment, a fine not to exceed the greater of $4,000,000 or other applicable penalties, or both, for the knowing or intentional manufacture, sale, or possession with intent to sell, of large amounts of any narcotic, including heroin, morphine, or cocaine (which includes "crack"), or of phencyclidine (PCP), or of LSD, or of marijuana (1,000 kilo-grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of marijuana, or 1,000 or more marijuana plants regardless of weight);
  • A minimum of five years and a maximum of forty years, a fine not to exceed the greater of $2,000,000 or other applicable penalties, or both, for similar actions involving smaller amounts of any narcotic, including heroin, morphine, or cocaine (which includes "crack"), or of phencyclidine (PCP), or of LSD, or of marijuana (100 kilo-grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of marijuana, or 100 or more marijuana plants regardless of weight);
  • A maximum of five years, a fine not to exceed the greater of $250,000 or other applicable penalties, or both, for similar actions involving smaller amounts of marijuana (less than 50 kilograms, except in the case of 50 or more marijuana plants regardless of weight), hashish, hashish oil, PCP or LSD, or any amounts of amphetamines, barbiturates, and other controlled stimulants and depressives;
  • A maximum of four years, a fine of not more than $30,000, or both, for knowingly or intentionally using the mail, telephone, radio, or any other public or private means of communication to commit acts that violate the laws against the manufacture, sale, and possession of drugs;
  • A maximum of one year and a minimum fine of $1,000, or both, for knowingly or intentionally possessing any controlled substance. (The gift of a "small amount" of marijuana is subject to the penalties for simple possession.)

Penalties may be doubled, however, when a first-time offender at least 18 years old (1) distributes a controlled substance to a person under 21 years of age or (2) distributes, possesses with intent to distribute, or manufactures a controlled substance in or on, or within one thousand feet of, the real property comprising a public or private elementary or secondary school, or a public or private college, junior college, or university, a playground or housing facility owned by a public housing authority, or within 100 feet of a public or private youth center, public swimming pool, or video arcade facility. A term of imprisonment for this offense shall not be less than one year.