Carleton’s administration has updated school policy on substance use to regulate recreational marijuana on campus, in light of federal cannabis legalization coming this October.
According to the new policies, students over the age of 19 will be able to possess 30 grams of dried cannabis, but will not be allowed to consume, grow, or have cannabis delivered in any form on campus. The updates have been added to the already-existing alcohol and tobacco policies.
Greg Aulenback, Carleton’s strategic initiatives manager, said in an email that the school’s policies reflect the Ontario Cannabis Act—a legislation coming into effect in October—which would define Carleton as a workplace and public space.
“It remains illegal to buy, possess, or use cannabis for anything other than authorized medical or research purposes,” Aulenback said.
Laura Storey, director of Housing and Residence Life Services, said in an email that Carleton residence is considered a public space and workplace, which is why students living in residence are not allowed to consume marijuana recreationally.
She added that residence fellows, who act as a first resource for residents on their floors, have been trained to understand the new policies that will be coming into effect this year.
“We have explained our policies and the differences in the policy,” Storey said. “We have talked at length about those who will be able to legally possess cannabis and how it can be safely stored in a non-disruptive way.”
Andres Olivera, a third-year commerce student, said he does not believe the updates to the cannabis policy will work.
“Banning never completely works, because one can find any way around to things,” Olivera said. “I think [students] will find other ways to get high.”
Jacob Howell, president of the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA), said he agreed with Olivera.
“There’s no question as to whether students are going to consume marijuana or not—whether they do it on campus, or across the canal,” Howell said. “It’s the same case with alcohol—I mean, if you’re not of age here, you can head off campus and do it in an environment where there are bartenders or security or people that oversee that sort of action.”
Sissi De Flaviis, RRRA’s vice-president (administration), said the organization is looking into collaborating with the university for campaigns for cannabis awareness, similar to the “CU Don’t Know” awareness campaign on alcohol launched in 2014.
“I would prefer if there was a way, like us collaborating with the university to find a way for students to safely consume that without being worried about getting in trouble with the police or school administration,” Howell said. “Now that it will be legalized, rather than saying whether we should touch it or not, let’s figure out a way to make it more inclusive and welcome in the community for those that do want to do it, and if you don’t want to do it, that’s fine as well.”
Aulenback said that a working group—led by Student Affairs, and with participation from Campus Safety and Housing—was formed this summer to “look at the proposed cannabis legislation and how it would be applied at Carleton.”
He added that the working group included representation from student stakeholders such as RRRA, the Carleton University Students’ Association, and the Graduate Students’ Association.
A key item on the group’s agenda was to create a sub-working group that will discuss how to communicate Carleton cannabis legislation to students and the broader community, Aulenback said.
“In addition to the legislation, a priority for Carleton is to also communicate messaging relating to using cannabis responsibly,” he said.
Aulenback said “there are no additional cannabis policies being worked on at Carleton.”
The recreational use of marijuana will be federally legalized on Oct. 17.
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