Chief Reagan Says Harvard Not a Sanctuary

Cambridge courts yesterday continued until March 31 the case of the first student ever arrested in a Harvard dormitory for narcotics violations.

City police arrested Andrew M. Wilson '72 on Thursday night in Briggs Hall and charged him with three narcotics courts: cultivating and growing marijuana, unlawful possession, and being present during the execution of a narcotics search warrant.

The penalties which Wilson could get are staggering. For cultivating and growing marijuana, Wilson would be liable to a fine of $500 to $1000, and or imprisonment from six months to two years.

Unlawful possession of marijuana is punishable by a fine of up to $1000 and or imprisonment up to three and one-half years. For mere presence, the penalty is a fine up to $2000 and or imprisonment up to two years.

James Reagan, chief of the Cambridge police, said yesterday that Wilson's arrest did not represent a change in City policy. "The student population should be treated the same as the rest of Cambridge," he said. "You can't have a sanctuary within the City."

"I don't think Harvard expects to be treated differently," Reagan said. "If they had that understanding, it certainly didn't come from the Cambridge police."

Reagan said that in his 31 years on the Cambridge police force, he can not remember a prior incident where a student was arrested in a dormitory for drug offenses.

Robert Tonis, chief of the University Police, said that three plainclothes officers from the Cambridge narcotics squad appeared at University police headquarters Monday night with a search warrant describing the room that had a marijuana plant in the window.

Touis said, "They asked for our men to go with them. They allegedly took three marijuana plants, one over four feet tall and two smaller ones."

Wilson was booked and released on bail the same night. In East Cambridge District Court yesterday, Judge Lawrence Feloney presided.

"A lot of people want to assert that this is the new hard line," Tonis said. "This is ridiculous. I've told hundreds that this is the way things will happen if students have narcotics in their possession and if the police get the proper information."

Dean Epps and other sources said that Cambridge police were in the Linnaean Street area because of many recent assaults on women. "The Cambridge police were allegedly hit in the face by seeing a six foot, well-lit marijuana plant. They did not consult with us in getting a warrant."

He said that his office has "suggested lawyers that the student could consult."

Epps recounted another drug case where, he said. "We were informed two days in advance that Cambridge police had word that there would be a party where drugs would be taken. We were told the information was confidential.

What to Do

"We tried to decide what to do-to stand by and wait or to take preventive measures," Epps said. "We finally called in the students and told them what the police had said."

"The potential arrest was not carried out because of our efforts for prevention," he added.