A marijuana cigarette passes around a circle on Norlin Quad April 20, 2008. Rumors say that police in the 60s used drastic measures to bust drug problems at CU. (CU Independent file/Lauren Walter)
A myth on campus states that drug problems at CU during the 60s were supposedly so bad that government agents would spy on students. But is it really a myth?
Several students believe narcotics officers would dress up as janitors and undergo drug busts in dorms.
Jeff Minor, a 20-year-old junior open-option student, said the myth is believable.
“I think [the myth] could be true. It seems like something the CU [police department] could do,” Minor said. “They’re on Facebook now cracking down on students for various things; so the myth doesn’t seem too outrageous.”
Cmdr. Tim McGraw, the public information officer for the CU Police Department, admitted they do use Facebook under certain circumstances.
“There are times we will look at Facebook if it is relevant in an investigation,” McGraw said.
CU Spokesman Bronson Hilliard keeps the myth alive by not denying the legend.
“If that were true I would neither confirm nor deny it,” Hilliard said. “To do so would reveal police tactics…To my knowledge, I’m not aware the CU Police did this.”
According to Hilliard, in present day the Boulder County Drug Task Force would be responsible for something like an undercover drug bust. This task force did not exist in the 60s, so Boulder Police and CU Police would have been in charge of drug bust activities.
“All kinds of things might have happened in the 60s…so I’m not sure who would’ve been in charge of such an investigation,” Hilliard said.
Still, student opinion varies on whether these events actually took place almost forty years ago on campus.
Megan Ziegler, an 18-year-old freshman pre-communication major, said she can see why students still believe the legend.
“The idea makes sense,” Ziegler said. “[The school] was trying to stop drug circulation on the CU Campus so why not do it this way? But was this something the school was allowing. It would look bad for CU if the campus brought undercover cops in.”
Several students, like 18-year-old freshman open-option major Jeremy Cross, are also skeptical about the myth. Cross said he thinks the myth could be more than that—it could be true and ongoing.
“Are there rumors about this still going on?” Cross said. “Because I could see that being true; I have seen some shady characters around campus.”
Despite the uncertainty that clouds the current campus body, there is little evidence suggesting these events actually took place.
CU Alum Dwight Stevens (’68) said through personal experience he doesn’t believe the rumor to be true.
Stevens said albeit being undercover, the actions alleged narcotics officers underwent would have been very visible to students. Also, he detailed the end of the 60s with drugs becoming more prevalent on campus and in the public’s eye.
“Drinking [3.2 percent beer] was legal at 18, and you couldn’t move once you got into the Sink,” Stevens said. “On Friday afternoon, it was so crowded you could hardly get your beer glass to your mouth. But drugs really weren’t an issue in the early 60s.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Adrian Kun at Adrian.Kun@colorado.edu.
