Drugs and Alcohol

Drugs and Alcohol

Alcohol
DUI Penalties
Other PA Alcohol Law Penalties
Drugs
Drug Paraphernalia

Alcohol

In the State of Pennsylvania it is unlawful for anyone under the age of 21 to purchase, consume, posses, or transport any alcoholic beverage. Muhlenberg College complies with federal, state and local laws, which regulate the possession, use and sale of alcoholic beverages. Private consumption of alcoholic beverages by individuals of legal age (21) for their own personal use is permitted on campus only in private rooms and suites in residence units, including special interest houses and fraternity houses. No open containers of alcohol are permitted in public areas; this is a City of Allentown Ordinance. Individuals found to be in violation of the alcohol policy are referred to the Dean of Students Office for a judicial review and/or the Allentown Police Department. Pennsylvania’s "Zero Tolerance" law lowered the blood alcohol content for minors from .10% to .02%.

Please make sure you review the Alcohol Policy in your Student Policy and Information Guide. The following pages contain a brief overview of some of the alcohol related laws in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as well as the sentencing guidelines for the offenses. It is important to note that in cases of driving while your license is suspended there are additional sentences that are not addressed in this manual. In D.U.I cases an ignition interlock system may be placed on a vehicle. An ignition interlock system uses a breath sample to detect whether the driver has consumed alcohol. If so, the vehicle cannot be started. The ignition interlock system must be installed in all vehicles driven by the offender and is installed after the license suspension has been installed. There is a fee associated with each system installed per vehicle. There are laws addressing sentencing guidelines for tampering with an ignition interlock system.

DUI Penalties

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Other PA Alcohol Law Penalties

Click here to view Other PA Alcohol Law Penalties

Drugs

Muhlenberg College will not tolerate the illegal distribution of drugs on campus or the using of any type of illegal substances on campus. The College cannot tolerate behavior which is harmful to the individual, infringes upon the rights of others, or which the College deems detrimental to the welfare of an academic community. As a result the College reserves the right to one or more of the following forms of actions in response to drug use on campus: contact local, state, and federal officials charged with enforcing state and federal drug laws when it becomes aware of students using or distributing illegal drugs, refer to counseling or psychiatric services, and/or internal disciplinary action. Below is the Schedule of Controlled Substances as defined in section 4 of the Controlled Substances, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act of 1972. The law recognizes five categories of controlled substances ranging from the most dangerous listed in Schedule I to the least dangerous in Schedule V.

Schedule I – Selected opiates and opium derivatives such as heroin; hallucinogens such as LSD; and marijuana. Although the law no longer classifies marijuana as a narcotic, it still lists it as a controlled substance under Schedule I.
Schedule II – Opium, amphetamine; coca leaves; and methadone.
Schedule III – Selected substances, which have a depressant effect on the central nervous system such as barbituric acid.
Schedule IV – Selected substances which have a depressant effect on the central nervous system, but which have a lower potential for abuse relative to substances in Schedule III, e.g. Phenobarbital.
Schedule V - Substances such as cough syrup, which may contain limited quantities of a narcotic, but which also include one or more non-narcotic medicinal ingredients, which confer upon the substance valuable medicinal qualities other than those possessed by the narcotic alone.

Drug Paraphernalia

Definition of "Drug Paraphernalia"
"Drug Paraphernalia" means all equipment, products and materials of any kind which are used, intended for use, or designed for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance in violation of the Controlled Substance Act. (C.S. Section 2). Please be sure to review the Drug Use Policy as defined in your Student Policy and Information Guide.

Some of items that would be considered "Paraphernalia", but not limited to:

(1) Scales and balances used, intended for use or designed for use in weighing or measuring controlled substances.
(2) Containers and other objects used, intended for use or designed for use in storing controlled substances.
(3) Hypodermic syringes, needles, and other objects used, intended for use, or designed for use in parenterally injecting controlled substances into the human body.
(4) Objects used, intended for use or designed for use in ingesting, inhaling or otherwise introducing marihuana, cocaine, hashish, or hashish oil into the human body......

  • Metal, wooden, acrylic, glass, stone, plastic, or ceramic pipes with or without screens, permanent screens, hashish heads or punctured metal bowls.
  • Water pipes
  • Carburetion tubes and devices
  • Smoking and carburetion masks
  • Roach clips; meaning objects used to hold burning material such as a marihuana cigarette, that has become to small or too short to be held in the hand.
  • Miniature cocaine spoons and cocaine vials
  • Chamber pipes
  • Electric pipes
  • Air-driven pipes
  • Chillums
  • Bongs
  • Ice pipes or chillers

The Law

The use of, or possession with intent to use, drug paraphernalia, for the purpose of planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packing, repacking, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. (C.S. Section 13, subsection 32) The delivery of, possession of with intent to deliver, or to manufacture with intent to deliver, drug paraphernalia, knowing, or under circumstances where on reasonably should know, that it would be used to plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound, convert, produce, process, prepare, test, analyze, pack, repack, store, contain, conceal, inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body a controlled substance in violation of this act. (C.S. Section 13, subsection 33)

The placing in any newspaper, magazine, handbill, or other publication any advertisement, knowing, or under circumstances where one reasonably should know, that the purpose of the advertisement, in whole or in part is to promote the sale of objects designed or intended for use as drug paraphernalia. (C.S. Section 13, subsection 34)

Penalty

Any person who violates the above, is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2500) or to imprisonment not exceeding one (1) year, or both. Any person who violates clause (33) by delivering paraphernalia to a person under eighteen (18) years of age who is three (3) or ore years his junior shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree and upon conviction thereof be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5000) or to imprisonment not exceeding two (2) years, or both.