University police are trying to encourage marijuana users to quit their smoking habits.

“Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug that we encounter,” Major Christian Bertram of the UNCW police department said. “This is probably, in part, due to the easy detectability of its use.”

UNCW police are able to find marijuana users through a variety of methods.

“Many of the reports of drug use come to us through RAs, or other students in the residential areas,” Bertram said. “The police generally encounter drug use through unannounced walk-throughs of the residence halls, by checking on people sitting in vehicles in the parking lots, and through [patrolling] other areas on campus.”

The UNCW police department recommends that students who habitually use marijuana contact Crossroads. Crossroads is a program at UNCW that deals with substance abuse prevention and education.

Marijuana use during the 2013 school year increased during the months of November and January—before the winter break and after students returned. Residence halls and parking lots are the most common area marijuana users are arrested.

The police officers’ goal is to avoid sending each student using or distributing drugs to jail.

“Our officers have the discretion to take the action that they feel fits the situation that they are dealing with at the time,” Bertram said. “We refer far more students to the Dean of Students for marijuana use than we charge through the state judicial system. As with any other situation we encounter on campus, we look for the option that will provide the maximum benefit for the university and the student. We consider ourselves to be very much a part of the educational process.”