Georgetown doesn’t have a huge drug scene, but many students smoke pot recreationally. Students often find it difficult to find dealers, though, and it’s even harder to find good places to smoke. Most students end up smoking in their dorm rooms or apartments, which is generally fine, though every once in a while people do get caught. A persistent rumor holds that the University’s smoke detectors are actually heat detectors and, therefore, won’t go off due to cannabis fumes. Proceed at your own risk.

The general rule is that RAs and DPS officers aren’t looking to bust anyone, so don’t give them a reason to. Make sure there aren’t any “suspicious odors” to investigate and you should be fine. As for smoking outside, Georgetown is located in an urban area, so there aren’t many options. Vox can’t tell you where to smoke, but check out these fine places to enjoy nature instead.

According to Vox‘s research, a gram costs about $20, which seems about an average price, and a eighth runs about $60. (That’s probably not accurate. Commenters, feel free to chime in.) Most of the people who deal to students are small-time and many are students themselves. The administration takes drug violations seriously, and, as a result, many students have trouble finding dealers.

Some schools, apparently, have parties where students will serve weed along with alcohol. Nothing like that happens at Georgetown. Most of the time, people smoke in small groups with their friends.

Hard drugs aren’t prevalent at Georgetown. Cocaine takes a long second place to weed in popularity. People use other drugs like molly and LSD, but you have to know someone to get it. Usually, students will take those sorts of party drugs right before going to clubs. Study drugs are somewhat popular as well, though, again, access is limited.

Also, for some reason, Georgetown always gets associated with meth, though usually it’s actually DMT or The Hoya jumping to conclusions.

Vox‘s disclaimer yesterday applies here: This preview is intended to provide a realistic picture of undergraduate drug culture at Georgetown University. Most of the information here is common knowledge and does not come from personal experience. Vox doesn’t endorse breaking any laws.

For this edition of Prefrosh Preview, we’ll be tackling various vices you might be interested in engaging in during college: drinking, drugs, sex and smoking. As a disclaimer, Vox isn’t advocating underage drinking or the use of illegal drugs, and most of this information comes from outside sources, not firsthand experience.

Drinking

Despite what some tour guides reassured your parents, drinking is a sizeable part of social life at Georgetown for many people. If you look for a party on the weekend, you will always find one.

During New Student Orientation, many freshmen will wander the neighborhood in packs listening for noise that might signal a party. We advise freshmen who find parties to avoid inviting their entire floor or drinking everything as soon as they can.

If you’re over 21 (or have an ID that says you are) and prefer bars, here are some of the more popular nearby options:

• Chadwicks (3205 K Street): Good happy hours and champagne brunches.
• Epicurean (On campus, under Darnall): Offers karaoke, and is usually occupied with doctors from the hospital.
• Old Glory (3139 M Street): Strong drinks, good barbecue; the covered back porch with a bar makes it convenient for smokers.
• Rhino (3295 M Street): Sketchy, but good wings and a good chance of spotting Real World cast members or Kobe Bryant.
• Rugby (1065 Wisconsin Ave): As part of a Ralph Lauren store, very, very preppy.
• Third Edition (1218 Wisconsin Ave): Relatively cheap, lots of dancing; famous for having its exterior used in St. Elmo’s Fire.
• Tombs (1226 36th Street): The closest bar to campus and filled with students, but also the strictest with IDs.

How strict a given bar is with accepting fake IDs varies from bouncer to bouncer. Last spring, a number of fake IDs were taken from Third Edition, so be aware that it could happen to you. Generally, Vox would discourage you from trying your fake at Third Edition or Tombs.

Read the rest of this entry »

An anonymous Metropolitan Police Department source told Washington City Paper yesterday that police had uncovered several gallons of the “date rape” drug gamma hydroxybutyric acid addressed to a former Georgetown student that had lived near campus.

GHB is tasteless and odorless, but it can cause drowsiness, unconsciousness, and short-term memory loss that might aid in the execution of a sexual assault. The drug is also a legal sleep aid and recreational drug for clubbers.

Police intercepted the 8-gallon shipment of GHB on April 25. The student that it was addressed to graduated over a year ago. He denies any knowledge of the package, and no one ever came to claim it. Police did not arrest the student.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, a dose of GHB sells for $5 to $25.

The MPD source told City Paper that it was common for drug dealers to send drugs to addresses that were not their own. They then track the shipment online and pick it up before the real resident might suspect anything. However, the officer also noted that dealers ”usually use fictitious names.”

University spokesperson Rob Mathis wrote that University officials had “no knowledge of the incident.”

h/t Washington City Paper

Georgetown alumnus Jason Ryan‘s first book “Jackpot: High Times, High Seas, and the Sting That Launched the War on Drugs” tells the story of “gentlemen smugglers,” southern marijuana drug lords who smuggled pot on yachts in the 70s and early 80s. The book is thoroughly researched, and includes in depth profiles of dealer personalities, along  with lengthy interviews, personal correspondence, and news clips. The perfect gift for your “artsy” friend.

Recommended to fans of Thomas Pynchon, or people who actually read James Franco‘s short stories.

Ryan lives in Charleston, South Carolina and has been a reporter for South Carolina newspaper The State.

“Jackpot” will be available for purchase at online retailers on 4/20. Yes, really.

View Campus Crime Watch: January 31 – February 20 in a larger map

Tuesday, 8 February 2011

10:00 AM – THEFT (Walsh). A female student went into a restroom on the fourth floor and placed her wallet on the counter. She left the area and forgot to take her wallet. When she returned to the restroom, the wallet was no longer there.

12:17 PM – HARRASSMENT (Lauinger). A female (Non GU student) was stalking and continuously emailing a student. The suspect was identified and was brought to the DPS office where she was barred from campus.

2:46 PM – THEFT (Darnall). A student secured his bicycle with a u-lock. When he returned to retrieve it, he found that an unknown person had cut the lock and stolen his bike. No suspects or witnesses have been identified.

Read the rest of this entry »

In federal court yesterday, Charles Smith and John Perrone plead guilty to manufacturing DMT in Smith’s Harbin dorm room last October.

Perrone admitted during the hearing that he purchased the supplies needed to make the hallucinogenic drug, while Smith agreed to pay half of the cost. Although they didn’t plan to sell the drug, they did plan to share it with friends. Before their arrest on the morning of Oct. 25, they produced a gram of DMT — about 10 hits worth.

“I have never consumed DMT in my life, didn’t get that far,” Perrone said during the hearing, according to the AP.

Lawyers agreed that Smith and Perrone should be sentenced to six months in jail. Instead of serving that jail time, as per the agreement, the two men will do community service and go on probation. The two men will be sentenced on Mar. 18.

According to University spokesperson Julie Green Bataille, Smith is no longer enrolled at Georgetown. He was previously enrolled as a freshman in the School of Foreign Service.

Photo: Arthur Lien, h/t AP

In typical Ivy League fashion, Columbia found a way to one-up the national media attention Georgetown received from its DMT lab bust this fall.

This Tuesday, five students at Columbia University were arrested for dealing a variety of drugs out of houses on the university’s fraternity row.

NYPD’s investigation, referred to as “Operation Ivy League,” took place over the course of five months as undercover policemen purchased LSD, marijuana, cocaine, Adderall, and ecstasy from the students.

According to Bwog, the blog of The Blue and White, three of the students are being held at the Manhattan Correctional Facility. The other two students have been released on bail.

Pike, AEPi and Psi U—the fraternities that the students sold drugs out of—have been placed on Interim Suspension by the University.

…but we did it first!

h/t: Bwog

h/t Funny or Die

At D.C. District Court this afternoon, Charles Smith (SFS ’14) and John Perrone, a freshman at the University of Richmond, were released under parental custody to their homes in Andover, Massachusetts.

Smith and Perrone will stand trial in court on January 24 for conspiracy to manufacture and possession with intent to distribute DMT, a hallucinogenic drug.

According to Washington City Paper, who spoke with the attorneys defending Smith and Perrone before the hearing, both college students are “very young kids from good families who’ve done some good things.”

Read the rest of this entry »

6:45 p.m. update: At her arraignment, Baltazar pled not guilty to charges of unlawful possession of and intent to sell marijuana and the sale of drug paraphernalia. She was released from custody, but the D.C. Superior Court recommended that she undergo drug testing and treatment.

During the arraignment, Baltazar’s attorney, Brian M. Heberlig, added that his client will be meeting with “the head of Georgetown’s student disciplinary board” on Friday.

Baltazar and Heberlig declined to comment on the case after the arraignment adjourned. Her next court hearing is scheduled for November 19 at 9 a.m.

5:00 p.m. update: According to MPD’s incident report, DPS reported to members of the Narcotic and Special Investigations Division that Baltazar was selling marijuana on the Georgetown campus. In addition to  a substance that field-tested positive for THC, MPD also recovered drug paraphernalia in her room.

2:10 p.m. update: Baltazar will be arraigned this afternoon in D.C. Superior Court.

Wednesday, 1:25 p.m. update: According to University spokesperson Julie Green Bataille, Baltazar’s arrest was part of an “ongoing investigation” on the part of University Public Safety and the Metropolitan Police Department.

Last night, MPD and DPS “found reason to suspect drug use” in Baltazar’s second-floor Harbin Hall room, which led to a search of the premises and her arrest. In an email to Vox, Bataille added that the investigation is separate from another ongoing investigation into the arrests of Charles Smith (SFS ’14), John Romano (COL ’14), and John Perrone, a freshman at the University of Richmond. Romano was released by authorities and was relieved of all charges against him on Monday; Smith and Perrone were charged with conspiracy to manufacture and possession with intent to distribute DMT, a hallucinogenic drug.

“We are working actively with MPD to understand if there are any connections but at this time believe they are unrelated incidents,” Bataille wrote. “We do believe both of these recent incidents are unusual events on our campus and do not represent the vast majority of Georgetown students who contribute positively to our community.”

According to an MPD incident report obtained by the Hoya, MPD officers found “a green weed-like substance that tested positive for THC” in Baltazar’s room.

10:00 p.m. update: Bataille confirmed in an email that Kelly Baltazar, a freshman resident of Harbin Hall room 229, was arrested this evening by MPD and is “now in police custody.”

Original post: This evening shortly before 7:30 p.m., a handcuffed female student was seen being escorted out of Harbin Hall by University Public Safety and Metropolitan Police Department officers. Metropolitan Police Department Officer Hugh Carew said that MPD officers arrested a suspect at 7:16 p.m. at Georgetown University for unauthorized use of a controlled substance.

Later in the evening, Carew told the Hoya that Baltazar was arrested for “possession with the intent to distribute marijuana.”

According to Leigh Finnegan (COL ’13) who overheard a conversation between DPS officers on the ground floor of the dormitory, the student’s room was searched before she was detained. [Editor's note: Finnegan is the Voice's Assistant Leisure Editor.]

Vox will update this post as we learn more.

Additional reporting by Molly Redden.