HI, I just moved into college, and I met my 2 roommates. The first guy seemed alright, pretty quiet, but I could live with that. My second roommate, however, is a different story. During our first conversation, he straight up told me he was a pot dealer, and he came into the room with pot and beers. He’s also really obnoxious, and he is a HUGE partier, which I am not so much. I really want to try to get a new rooming assignment because I don’t want to risk getting into trouble in case he gets caught with his “stuff”. I honestly feel very uncomfortable with the situation, and the past few days have been rough dealing with it. I don’t want to feel the need to be away from my room to avoid being around him. My other roommate is a friend of his from football, so he doesn’t care at all about what the other guy does. I want to switch, but I don’t want to get anyone into trouble either, so I really don’t want to tell an RA about his stash of stuff. I just really need suggestions on a legitimate reason to switch. Please help, any suggestion is very well appreciated.
Conversation with your RA:
OP: "Hey, I need to switch rooms. My roommate came back drunk, smelling like smoke. I’m ok if he smokes (don’t specify the type), but I don’t want to have to deal with that. He confirmed with me that he doesn’t only smoke during parties, so basically this is going to be a constant thing. What are the steps I should take to change rooms so I’m not constantly having to come back to a room that reeks?
RA (hopefully): “Oh ok, so here’s how we do room changes…”
I think he told you so he can find out what you think about the situation. What you need to do is to say “I am absolutely not cool with this. It can jeopardize my housing/college situation. You need to not ever have pot in this room or I will have to report it. So maybe you should find a different room or something.”
From an article:
A POT PROBLEM
Midway through the semester, you realize that your roommate smokes marijuana and he likes to do it in your room. What should you do?
Sharma: Tell him or her, “If you want to drink or smoke, do it off campus.”
Frey: Before you report your roommate, see if you can talk things out. Tell him you don’t want him to smoke in the room anymore and explain that you have a right to a smoke-free environment, and chances are your university has a no-drug policy. Let him know that if you catch him smoking in the room again, you’re going to have to report him.
Ali: As popular as marijuana is, it is still illegal, and if you do not want to jeopardize your housing and educational endeavors, then it is important that you immediately remove yourself from the situation. You may want to consider speaking with your roommate and asking him to not smoke in your room to ensure that you are not involved in any policy violations that will result in the university pursuing judicial sanctions against you. If that fails, contact campus police or a housing staff member to document the situation.