Potential location of substance free housing in the Quad (Taylor Howard/DP)

As of last year, if you preferred to live in an environment free of, uh, certain “substances,” you were out of luck.

Then, in October, a residential program for recovering substance abusers was announced, to debut in fall of 2007.

But, believe it or not, there are Penn students that choose not to use drugs or alcohol even though they aren’t recovering addicts. And thanks to Undergraduate Assembly member and College freshman Enoch Arthur-Asmah, those students will finally have their own place to live as well. Starting next fall, Fisher-Hassenfeld College House will have a Substance Free residential program as an extension of its Healthy Living program.

I came out against the program for recovering addicts, but I can’t deny that substance free housing is a great idea. I thought the recovery program was a bad idea because it would brand the participating students as outsiders. But students in a substance free program would be there of their own accord.

Recovering addicts shouldn’t be stigmatized at all, but praised for their efforts to get their lives back on track. Still, a negative association does exist in the minds of others. But this won’t apply to students who choose to abstain from drugs and/or alcohol simply because it’s not for them.

Laura Swann, the coordinator for the Center for Students in Recovery at the University of Texas at Austin warned that students in a substance free program have less of an incentive to abstain as they might in a recovery program.

But honestly, that’s okay. Substance-free housing isn’t meant for former addicts. Addicts need professional treatment, where they can be in a structure and supportive environment uniquely designed to help them achieve their goals of sobriety. Substance free housing is to provide a welcoming environment to students who simply feel that drugs and alcohol aren’t for them.

This isn’t a drawback; it’s obvious. These are two different programs with two different goals. Rehab doesn’t necessarily belong in a college residential system, but a program to make sure that students feel comfortable with the life choices they’ve made certainly does.