With changes from the Trudeau government expected to come regarding the criminal status of marijuana, universities will likely have to reform existing bans of pot, especially on campus residences.
Current policies around marijuana use in residence vary between universities, but residence directors agree that legalization would probably bring changes to existing policies.
Carly Moffat, the associate director of residence life at the University of Manitoba (U of M), said marijuana would be treated like cigarettes in residence if it were legalized.
This means marijuana could be smoked outside, as long as students are 25 feet away from any entrance to comply with the federal Clean Air Act.
“You can legally purchase and smoke cigarettes if you’re a consenting adult . . . but you’re still never allowed to smoke indoors for the respect of others,” she said.
Moffat explained that there is a misconception among some students that if marijuana is legalized, people will be able to smoke it “wherever and whenever.”
One of the main concerns when students smoke marijuana or cigarettes in residence buildings is fire safety, she explained, and this would not change with legalization.
Laura Storey, the housing director at Carleton University, said she too believes pot could be treated the same as cigarettes.
“We wouldn’t allow [students to smoke] in residences,” she said. “We would need to look at our policies and figure out what works best in the community, and what the law says.”
Dean Martin, director of residential life at the University of New Brunswick (UNB), said any changes to the residence policy at UNB “will depend on the exact terms of any changes to the laws around marijuana.”
Geraint Osborne, a University of Alberta professor who studies student cannabis use, said universities would likely treat pot similarly to alcohol on campus and in residence.
He said he doesn’t think smoking in public will be permitted, since drinking alcohol in public is illegal.
“On some occasions, [universities] will need to think about how they’re going to handle it. Like if you’re having some kind of open event on campus, a concert or something like that,” he said.
With certain campus events, universities would have to follow existing rules regulating tobacco use, according to Osborne.
At U of M, students can currently be fined if residence staff discovers marijuana in their residence room, according to Moffat. Students would be fined for fire safety and possession of narcotics violations.
Martin said there have been some violations of the residence marijuana policy at UNB this year, but he doesn’t see it as much of a problem.
“Students suspected of [using marijuana] have a learning conversation with residence staff and are issued a letter to remind them of the policy,” he said.
Martin explained that a second violation can result in a residence transfer, and a third can result in eviction.
At Carleton, Storey said students caught smoking marijuana in residence could be issued a “behaviour contract” in some situations but not fined.
Behaviour contracts are signed between a residence staff member and a student, and outline what a student needs to do in order to “have the privilege of continuing to live in residence,” according to Storey.
Carleton stopped fining students a $200 fee last year for being caught with pot. The fee was removed because some students didn’t get discouraged from smoking after violating the policy.
The Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drugs survey estimates 22 per cent of Canadians age 15 to 19 and 26 per cent of people age 20 to 24 have used cannabis at least once in a year.
Osborne said he has interviewed many groups of people, including students, and he doesn’t expect these people to use marijuana more frequently if the drug is legalized.
“It’s not like there’s a whole bunch of people who are thinking, ‘Oh man, I’d really like to smoke some weed. But it’s illegal, so I’m not going to,’” he said.
He said decriminalization could happen as soon as this year, but full legalization could take up to three years.
