Pubdate: Wed, 5 Nov 2008
Source: State Hornet, The (CA State, Sacramento, Edu)
Page: Front Page
Copyright: 2008 State Hornet
Contact: http://www.statehornet.com/home/lettertotheeditor/
Website: http://www.statehornet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1400
Author: Sam Pearson

CAMPUS HAZY ON PRESCRIPTION POT

Campus police officers were called to a room in Desmond Hall to 
locate a student who was believed to be smoking marijuana in his 
room. When they arrived Thursday evening, the student showed them his 
state-issued medical marijuana card, as if that would be the end of it.

He was lucky. According to the police media log, officers let him off 
with a warning, saying only that the residence halls were not an 
appropriate place to smoke. But for the student - housing officials 
declined to release his name because of privacy concerns - things 
could have been much worse.

Sacramento State public safety officials say they are under no 
obligation to recognize state-issued medical marijuana cards. 
Attorneys at the CSU Chancellor's Office have advised police that 
they do not believe the state's medical marijuana law applies to 
college campuses.

California voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996, which created a 
program in which people could obtain doctor's recommendations to use 
marijuana to treat conditions like cancer and AIDS, but also simpler 
ailments like chronic pain and migraines. The state began issuing 
medical marijuana identification cards, which patients would use to 
obtain marijuana from state-regulated dispensaries.

This brought the state into conflict with federal law, which does not 
recognize any legitimate use for marijuana. But the details of the 
law are still being worked out, with case law being established by 
continued court challenges to the measure. This leaves open many 
questions to how specifically the law can be applied that can only be 
settled through future litigation.

The murkiness surrounding the state law on medical marijuana puts the 
California State University system in a difficult situation. Public 
safety officers are instructed to follow the more restrictive federal 
law within campus boundaries even though federal law's jurisdiction 
is debatable.

CSU Chancellor Charles Reed issued a memo to CSU campuses in 2005, 
titled Executive Order 930, that outlines the current policy for 
handling drug offenses. Reed wrote that the CSU was required to be in 
compliance with the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 and the 
California Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1990, which mandates measures 
to prevent employees from using illegal drugs, because the system 
receives federal funding. Recognizing the state law would risk losing 
that funding.

Already, a lawsuit that settles this ambiguity may be in the works. 
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for 
the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said in an e-mail that the group, along 
with the American Civil Liberties Union, planned to sue Humboldt 
State University "to compel state officials to treat medical cannabis 
like any other scheduled drugs."

Potentially, the case could affect the entire CSU system and how it 
enforces marijuana laws.

Under any circumstances, smoking marijuana is against residence hall 
policies, said residence life coordinator Josh O'Connor. Despite the 
ambiguity in medical marijuana laws, he said the residence halls set 
its own policies that were separated from state law.

"It does not change our views because we cannot allow illegal 
substances to be stored or smoked in the residence halls," O'Connor 
said. He noted that smoking cigarettes, although legal, is banned in 
the residence halls because it is a fire hazard.

When students in the dorms are caught smoking marijuana, they can be 
referred to drug counseling through the Health Center. They are then 
required to attend four counseling sessions with Cyndra Krogen, the 
center's drug and alcohol counselor. Students using medical marijuana 
end up speaking to Krogen about health problems associated with 
marijuana, even though they are using the drug to treat other health problems.

Krogen said that the students she sees view marijuana use as a 
relatively harmless act, and most are experienced users.

"By the time you've gotten caught, you've probably been doing it for 
a while," she said.

She said that smelling marijuana smoke in the residence halls was 
fairly easy and that students who smoke typically do so to push the 
limits of residence hall rules.

Krogen said that when she talks to students, she tries to be 
non-judgmental and have an equal, two-way conversation, rather than a 
stereotypical anti-drug lecture.

"I don't push any ideas in their heads or anything like that," she said.

She said she believes that marijuana has some legitimate medicinal 
uses and understands how it can help relieve pain, but contended that 
the drug had side effects.

"Sometimes people don't believe it, but it really has been proven to 
cause a motivational syndrome," she said, adding that when people are 
high "they just want to sit around and play video games and things like that."

Obtaining marijuana legally is supposed to be limited to those with 
valid medical reasons, but loopholes exist. Websites like potdoc.com 
promise quick recommendations for medical marijuana through doctors 
who are licensed professionals, but build their business on providing 
quick access to legal marijuana, even for patients who may not need it.

Krogen said that when marijuana was easily obtainable for relatively 
minor ailments, this distracted from more legitimate uses of the 
drug, like for treating more serious diseases. "None of the students 
I've met with really sounded like they had a really hard time getting 
it," she said.

Cynthia Cockrill, housing and residence life director, said that 
students who wished to use medical marijuana should know better 
before moving into the dorms. Residence Life sends brochures and 
information to students and their families well before move-in day, 
which outline what the rules and policies are in the halls, she said.

"If you have to smoke dope because of a medical condition, living in 
the residence halls isn't for you," Cockrill said. "It doesn't let 
you come into the institution and say because I have a card I get to 
smoke marijuana."

Cockrill, a self-described "child of the '60s," said that she had a 
hard time sympathizing with students using medical marijuana cards. 
To her, the documents seemed inauthentic and not based on a 
legitimate need for the drug. All students living on-campus fill out 
a form where they are supposed to disclose health conditions, which 
are kept confidential and used during an emergency.

"No one has said, 'I'm in chronic pain and I need to smoke medical 
marijuana,'" she said. "So, you know, it's just kind of interesting."

The license agreement that all students living in the residence halls 
must agree to cover drug use with a blanket statement: "Except as 
lawfully prescribed, drugs are prohibited." But that only covers 
drugs that are lawfully prescribed under federal law.

The university's Guide to Residential Life, which is updated annually 
and given to new residents, is more specific. "Marijuana is illegal," 
it states. "Use of marijuana in any form on university property is 
prohibited. Medical marijuana cards are not recognized."

Campus police public information officer Kelly Clark said that until 
a court case proves otherwise, the Chancellor's Office would likely 
continue current policies. He said that public safety would treat 
university-affiliated housing, like the off-campus Upper Eastside 
Lofts, as subject to federal enforcement until told otherwise.

Clark said that while police officers were required to study the 
state penal code and understand the laws, it was not always as simple 
as rote memorization. "Even though the textbook says something, 
there's lots and lots of interpretation that comes about," he said. 
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