Spring break: it’s the opportunity to leave Pullman and the stress of academia behind, yet prime time for students to make poor decisions under the influence of drugs or alcohol, such as getting a DUI.

Lieutenant Steve Hansen said the WSU Police makes DUI arrests two to three times per weekend. During spring break, however, it’s all quiet. The students have taken the party someplace else.

“Everyone’s gone during spring break, but you have the same penalties, at least in the state of Washington,” Hansen said. “It could be even worse if you go out of the country for spring break and get caught with a DUI.”

In the state of Washington, a DUI is defined as operating a motor vehicle on public or private roads under the influence of intoxicating liquor and/or drugs.

The legal limit for alcohol differs by age range. For offenders over 21, the limit is a registered 0.08 on a breathalyzer; for offenders under 21, the limit is only 0.02.

In cases of impaired driving due to marijuana use, five nanograms of THC is considered the legal limit, said Pullman Police Commander Chris Tennant.

“So if you’re pulled over and you have that in your system, and you go over any of those particular numbers, you’re assumed guilty and you would have to prove that you are not impaired,” Tennant said.

If an officer is equipped with a field breathalyzer, they will ask the offender to blow into it in order to analyze their blood alcohol content.

“By driving on a state road and by being a resident of a state, you have already given your consent to blow on a breathalyzer if you’re under arrest,” Tennant said. “If you refuse to blow, your driver’s license will be suspended no matter what the DUI results are going to be.”

Even if the driver consents to blow, their license can still be suspended as a penalty of the DUI. If the offender blows over the legal limit, the driver will be put under arrest and taken to a local police station.

At the station, the offender will take an official breathalyzer test. The driver will then receive a citation for DUI and can be released to someone who hasn’t been drinking. Otherwise, the offender will stay at the police station until they sober up.

In cases of impairment via prescription and/or illegal drugs, a breathalyzer is not effective at assessing the driver’s level of impairment.

“If you blow substantially under what the officer believes your impairment level to be, then we have the option of getting a search warrant from a local judge to get your blood,” Tennant said.

Officers will have an offender’s blood tested in order to determine what drugs are present in the impaired driver.

Drivers impaired by prescription and illegal drugs can only be charged with DUI after their blood is tested, which takes approximately six weeks. The offender is released that day without any charges.

If an illegal amount of drugs or alcohol is found in the offender’s blood, the test results are sent to the county prosecutor in preparation for charging the suspect.

DUI offenders who receive a citation will be required to appear for a hearing on the next available court day. Tennant said DUI charges take approximately a year to process, and requires offenders to be present in court.

The Revised Code of Washington (RCW), a compilation of all enforced laws in the state of Washington, lists various DUI penalties based on the situation’s severity.

Penalties for first offenders include up to a year in jail and between $350 and $5,000 in fines.

Punishment for DUI is the same with both the Pullman and WSU police departments. However, the WSU police report the incident to Student Conduct if a student is involved in a DUI.

Adam Jussel, assistant dean of students and director of the Office of Student Standards and Accountability, stressed a more educational approach to DUI and other university alcohol violations. 

“We don’t act in the same way that the criminal process does, which is intended to be more punitive,” Jussel said. “We’re just trying to educate students and ensure student safety both on and off campus.”

If Student Conduct receives notice of a DUI incident, a letter will be sent informing the student that they may have violated the standards of conduct for students.

“We’d schedule a meeting with them, call them in and really hear their side of the story,” Jussel said. “In that role, we’re mutual fact finders, just trying to determine the truth of the matter.”

After meeting with the student, a Student Conduct officer will determine appropriate sanctions. Students can appeal the decision through the University Appeals Board.

Disciplinary sanctions vary depending on the circumstances of the DUI.

“You’re recklessly endangering the safety of others and yourself,” Jussel said. “It might heighten our concern for the particular students involved and it might result in different educational sanctions.”

Typical sanctions for a student’s first alcohol violation are fines, mandatory alcohol workshops through WSU’s Alcohol and Drug Counseling, Assessment and Prevention Services (ADCAPS) and a mandated completion of the online eCHUG alcohol assessment.

Sanctions can differ based on the severity of the original incident and the number of previous violations. The Student Conduct board has the authority to suspend or expel students in cases of conduct violations.

“While I recognize that underage alcohol consumption is going to occur, my goal for all of our students is for them to stay safe while they do it and practice healthy behaviors,” Jussel said.

Due to alcohol’s alteration of the brain’s judgment center, Tennant stresses that students follow plans they made before consuming alcohol.

“My advice, especially for young adults, is have a conversation or make a decision before you start drinking about how you’re getting home and stick to that,” Tennant said. “You make much better decisions when you’re sober.”