Should state universities ban medical pot?
The Arizona Supreme Court struck down a 2012 law that allowed the state to criminally charge students with medical marijuana cards if they had or used pot on campus.
The law didn’t “further the purpose” of the medical marijuana law voters approved in 2010, the court ruled, and that made it unconstitutional.
But universities can still outlaw use and possession, even among medicalmarijuana cardholders, with penalties for those who do. They just can’t be criminal charges. The question: Should universities outlaw pot for those who have received cards? azcentral’s columnists weigh in.
Regulate Mary Jane like Don Julio
LINDA VALDEZ: Well, duh. As an old college professor once told my class: If you want to smoke off this semester, it’s your choice. Marijuana on campus is older than Bob Dylan. What’s newer is the euphemism “medical.” So far, it’s just folk medicine with a kick.
We need lots of research on the alleged “medical” benefits of weed. The feds have blocked that with ridiculous policies and barriers to the researchers who want to find answers. In the meantime, it sure doesn’t look like medicine to me. Universities should impose the same kinds of rules on Mary Jane as they do on Don Julio. A medical marijuana card is too easy to get to be taken seriously.
Throw the book at rule breakers?
JOANNA ALLHANDS: We don’t know enough about the effects of secondhand pot smoke to open the floodgates on public campus use, even for medical marijuana users.
Smoking in a dorm room also has problems, as that smoke can waft through walls and across floors to affect other students.
I can’t imagine any university attempting to intelligently regulate who gets to smoke where. Because when regulating is hard, the default alternative is a ban.
That said, public opinion is quickly changing on marijuana use, including some who think it’s less dangerous than alcohol.
If universities choose to do anything more than that for breaking the rules, I wouldn’t be surprised to see “smokeins” in protest.
Marijuana poses a lesser danger
ABE KWOK: I can’t see universities not banning marijuana possession and use on campus, especially given the lax — nonexistent? — standards for obtaining a medical marijuana card. Universities are big on establishing safe spaces and, more importantly, at conveying to parents that their children are in good hands and in an ideal environment for learning.
I’d be curious to see what the penalties are and how they are applied. Would they be as severe as greater offenses such as threats and violence against others, sexual harassment, cheating? In the big scheme, marijuana is small potatoes compared to all the other vices, dangers that lie in wait for students; it should be treated as much.
Maybe students should, uh, study?
PHIL BOAS: Let me play the kill-joy. At the very least, the universities should prohibit all marijuana use on campus. And medical marijuana? There’s no such thing. Medical marijuana is not just a myth. It’s a myth on stilts. If you don’t believe me, look at the qualifying patient characteristics at the state Department of Health Services. The largest cohort by far on “medical” marijuana is the age group 18 to 30 — you know, all those young people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and hypertension.
A few hits from a medicinal reefer actually eases their pain between mountain biking, rock climbing and weekend 10K’s. Growing old is hell.
Next war frontier: Pot exposure
ELVIA DIAZ: Medical marijuana is a joke, and for that reason college campuses shouldn’t deal with it like any other “medicine” a student may need anytime and anywhere.
Yes, card-holders have the legal right to smoke it but their right must end where mine as a non-smoker begins. Forget whether marijuana second-hand smoke is harmful and forget opposing legalizing its recreational use. We’ve lost that societal war already.
The next battle is protecting unwanted exposure. College campuses have the responsibility to keep students from forcing their habits on others and we know the only way to enforce a rule is slapping students with penalties.