Pubdate: Tue, 16 Oct 2012
Source: Weal, The (SAIT Polytechnic, CN AB Edu)
Copyright: 2012 SAIT Student Association
Contact:  http://www.theweal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5224
Author: John Reid

MEDICINAL POT ON CAMPUS

Walk past a residence tower on a Friday or Saturday night and you 
might think you're walking by a Snoop Dogg concert. Marijuana gets 
smoked on campus, there's no doubt about it. For the vast majority of 
users, they're probably just warming up for some Mario Kart on N64 
but for others, marijuana is more than just a recreational drug.

Adam, who preferred to not use his last name, is a former SAIT 
student and medical marijuana user. He smokes marijuana to treat an 
extremely painful medical condition that can leave him completely 
immobile. It took years of pills, injections and alternative therapy 
before he came upon marijuana as a viable treatment option. Since 
then he said he's never passed on a puff. The improved mobility and 
diminished pain was enough to make him a believer in the power of 
medical marijuana.

"It's done a world of good for me. I've explored other avenues, I've 
tried popping pills and every other therapy you could imagine but 
this is what helps. It's a new wave of treatment that works."

Adam's not alone. Medical marijuana was approved in Canada in 2001 
and the number of licensed medical users has increased dramatically 
since then. In 2003, less than 100 people were approved to use 
medical marijuana; in 2009, that number was over 4,000 according to 
Statistics Canada.

Despite the growing prevalence, medical marijuana is still met with 
negative views by many. Adam said he is careful who he tells about 
his medical marijuana license and would never dream of smoking 
outside his home.

"It's just for home use, partly as a safety issue since I can't drive 
after smoking but mainly because of the negativity and lack of 
education surrounding medical marijuana. People don't understand that 
it can be a necessity for people with a disease so I just keep it to 
myself. It's just not worth the hassle."

Others are less private about their use. Lisa Kirkman is a first-year 
journalism student and is also licensed to use medical marijuana. She 
is an anti-prohibition activist and open about her use of medical 
cannabis. Recently Kirkman was confronted by campus security about 
medicating on campus.

"They were very cordial and nice about it. I showed them my license, 
which they examined, and then they left. I assumed that was the end 
of it. Then I got an email from the registrar stating that I was 
required to attend a meeting regarding non-academic misconduct. It 
was very disconcerting."

Kirkman met with the dean of Information and Communication Technology 
to clarify her use of medical cannabis and to discuss her using on campus.

Kirkman has since smoked on campus and she said security was "very 
understandable" about the whole ordeal.

Medical marijuana use on campus is a complex issue and SAIT's Paladin 
Security takes a cautious stance.

Paladin's statement on the issue is that they are not able to 
determine what marijuana use is medicinal and what is personal. In 
the interest of limiting criminal activity, they will assume any 
marijuana is for personal use and say there is a possibility of being 
charged with marijuana possession for anyone carrying any amount of 
marijuana on campus.

Federal law says that while users must abide by any federal or 
provincial legislation and local bylaws that restrict smoking 
cigarettes in public places, there are no other specific prohibitions 
on medical pot use in public.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom