A Tech student was arrested on drug charges earlier this week after individual packages of marijuana were allegedly found in his Browning Hall residence room.
Julian M. Upshaw, 18, a fourth-floor Browning Hall resident, was arrested and charged with simple possession of a controlled substance by Tech police on Tuesday after officers reportedly discovered marijuana in his room during a related investigation.
Police said Upshaw admitted he was selling the marijuana to “try to pay to stay in school and to make it through this semester.”
According to Officer Michael Lambert’s report, a residential life coordinator asked police to investigate a marijuana smell that was believed to be coming from Upshaw’s room on Jan. 21.
“I walked down the hallway and stood outside the door of that room,” Lambert said in his report. “While there, I could detect an odor of what I am familiar with as being that of marijuana.”
After Lambert knocked on the door several times, Upshaw opened it and “the odor of the marijuana became stronger.”
The officer then questioned the student, who admitted possessing a “small amount” of marijuana. The report states Upshaw unlocked a small refrigerator in his room and handed the officer a white envelope.
“As he did this, I could see what appeared to be a glass jar with something stuffed into it,” Lambert said.
Lambert then asked Upshaw if he “had anything further”. According to an arrest warrant, the student handed over a plastic bag that contained “29 smaller cellophane wrapped packages of a green, leafy substance that [Officer Lambert] believed to be marijuana, a Schedule VI drug,” which weighed 1.1296 ounces.
The report states Upshaw said he had been buying the marijuana from another unnamed student.
He reportedly told officers he was reselling the substance at $15 per package.
Police said no one else was in the room at that time.
Along with the marijuana, officers confiscated a metallic grinder, a small digital mini-scale and two personal vaporizers.
Upshaw was booked into the Putnam County jail with a bond set at $2,500.
