Mariel S. Clark
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Despite a high-profile bust last month that put the spotlight on Columbia University's drug subculture, New York University students beat out their Columbia counterparts five to one when it comes to drug use, according to the New York Post.
In 2009, there were 610 incidents involving "discipline for drugs" in school-owned and school-patrolled buildings at NYU compared to roughly 120 at Columbia, the paper reported.
But neither school appeared willing to hand offenders over to the police as the schools rarely contacted the NYPD when drugs were confiscated, the Post reported.
Just two of the Greenwich Village university's drug incidents ended in arrests by the NYPD and none of the uptown Ivy League school's incidents were even reported to police, according to the Post.
One former NYU security officer told the Post he was instructed to "never call the police unless it's a life-and-death situation," and an NYU spokesman told the paper the police were called only "in the case of significant crimes."
Columbia's 2009 stats showed the school handled its drug cases internally despite a spokesperson insisting to the Post that the school notified police whenever an illegal substance was found.
Both schools' 2010 stats were significantly lower than 2009 but the difference was because they stopped tallying "drug busts made by cops called to a location for a different crime," according to the paper.
