The 20-year-old Wesleyan University student who founded a drug reform group on campus has pleaded not guilty to charges filed in connection with MDMA, or "Molly," overdoses that sent 11 classmates to the hospital.
Andrew Olson, of Atascadero, California, entered the plea in court Tuesday. Olson is the founder and co-president of the Wesleyan chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy at Wesleyan University.
According to the warrant for his arrest, Olson denied selling drugs to any of the students who overdosed, but police found Molly and marijuana traces during a search of his room. At least one student who overdosed told police she had bought the drugs from Olson.
He began to cry when officers told him one of the students who overdosed at a party Feb. 21 was in critical condition, according to the warrant.
Eleven students were taken to the hospital after ingesting the drug at the "Eclectic Society" on High Street in Middletown, police said. All but one have been treated and released.
The parents of the student who remains at Hartford Hospital issued a statement late last week saying their child, who was listed in critical condition, will survive the overdose "against all odds."
Olson is one of four students arrested last week, accused of selling their peers the drugs that made them sick. Police said the students facing charges were known as drug dealers around campus.
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Olson was charged with two counts of possession and sale of a hallucinogen, possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and possession of drug paraphernalia.
He and the three other arrested students have been suspended from the university, officials from Wesleyan said on Wednesday.
