States continue to pass laws that legalize marijuana for medical or recreational purposes, placing colleges and universities in a position that will require them to revisit how they promote drug-abuse prevention.
Tuesday’s mid-term elections brought to 10 of the number of states – along with the District of Columbia – that now permit pot for adult recreational use and to 33 the number that have legalized weed for medical use. Missouri and Utah voters green-lighted medical use and Michigan approved recreational use.
“This process has been going on now for a number of years,” said Dr. James Lange, executive director of the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse, Prevention and Recovery at Ohio State University. “It’s time colleges started understanding some of the implications.”
Despite the legal changes in most states, institutions of higher education within their jurisdictions are sticking with policies that ban possession and use of cannabis. They’re likely concerned that violating federal laws such as the Controlled Substances Act and the Drug Free Schools, Community Act would cause them to lose increasingly critical federal funding if they lift bans on the drug.
Young people of traditional college age are among the rising numbers of North Americans who are using marijuana. One in every 22 college students uses marijuana daily, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which can result in penalties ranging from suspension to expulsion in most cases.
Meanwhile, licensed dispensaries are popping up across the U.S. in a growing industry that last year generated about $10 billion – more than double the amount spent on organic produce but still a small fraction of cigarette sales.
Schools should double down on efforts to remain compliant with federal laws that discourage possession and use of marijuana in educational settings, advised Dr. Jason R. Kilmer, an associate professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington and assistant director of the university’s Health& Wellness for Alcohol & Other Drug Education program in the division of student life.
