Talking Stick - November/December 2017 - 56

nize the telltale signs of marijuana
use among students and to respond
accordingly. However, as state and
federal governments begin to reexamine the legality of the drug - for both
medicinal and personal use - the appropriate response becomes foggier.
While there is still no federal statute,
more than half the states in this country
have legalized marijuana for medicinal
or recreational use. Meanwhile, Canada
is poised to be the first industrialized
country in the world to legalize marijuana, thanks to a law scheduled to go into
effect in July of 2018. Even as many
questions remain unanswered (including at what age it would be legal, for
example), campuses are beginning to
consider what that will mean.
Diane Rawlings, the head of
residence services at the University of
Windsor in Ontario, Canada, explains
that her department was "approached
by a student [about medicinal use of
marijuana] at the end of the school
year, and there was no practice or
policy in place. This began the process
of connecting with other colleagues
on the topic and how they addressed
its use on their campuses. To be fair,
there wasn't much out there, and our
campus was just starting to tackle
the topic of medical marijuana use.
As you can imagine, developing this
policy for a campus is complicated,
with collective agreements, determining location of use, documentation,
etc. I couldn't afford to wait until an
overall campus policy was finalized,
so we went it alone in residence. We
drafted a set of procedures [see sidebar] and vetted it by campus police,
Health and Safety, and the Office of
Human Rights. Since we expected that
the need to use medical marijuana
would not be isolated to residence,
we recommended that the student
register with Accessibility Services in
the event that he or she needed academic accommodations. We expect to
work with our colleagues on campus

TALKING STICK

to come up with a solution that is best
for the student and the community in
which they reside. In essence, we're
looking to work with the student on an
individual basis as opposed to having
the same procedure for each case."
The prevailing opinion in the U.S.
is that, under the current presidential
administration, the federal government will be extremely distant from
where many states find themselves
with regards to marijuana. With more
and more states embracing the use of

medical marijuana and some states
making access even less cumbersome
than the medical purposes exceptions,
the issue of marijuana in the workplace and residence halls is certain
to be almost everywhere. And, while
there are several clear laws about drugfree workplaces, students and staff
who have legally consumed marijuana
are now in campus workplaces and
residence halls.
The policy landscape that impacts
higher education institutions is most

For Medicinal Use Only
At the University of Windsor, when a student approached the
residence housing office about the use of medical marijuana,
there was no process in place dictating how to proceed. The following represents a paraphrase of the first draft of a process for
medical marijuana use in residence.
Students must adhere to the following process:
*
*
*

*
*

Complete the special considerations form on the Residence
website.
Consider registering with Disability Services (for possible
academic accommodation).

Provide a copy of the prescription to Residence Services,
Accessibility Services, and Campus Community Police. The
student must have a copy of the prescription on himself/herself during usage.
Keep the substance in a sealed container that can contain
the smell.

Do not share or distribute marijuana to any other resident
or guest.

* Use medical marijuana (smoking, vaping, huffing, etc.) in the
space designated by Residence Services. Medical marijuana
may not be consumed inside residence buildings unless
given written permission from Residence. Smoking indoors
is strictly prohibited regardless of the circumstances.
*

Once Accessibility Services/Residence Services make CCP
aware of the situation, meet with the CCP, along with a Residence representative, to work out the details for appropriate handling and what is considered an acceptable quantity
to be carrying.

Talking Stick - November/December 2017

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