No legal cannabis for Colorado colleges

Colorado and Washington may have legal marijuana today, but getting blazed on campus will still land students in trouble.

Universities in both states have opted to leave their drug policies unchanged after the new law.

Organizations that receive federal funding have to comply with federal law,  and most college students are still too young to legally use marijuana under the new law anyway.

But for many students, the restrictions don’t stop there. Colorado College students aren’t allowed to use marijuana no matter where they are, on or off campus.

Jill Tiefenthaler, president of the small, private school in Colorado Springs said the use of marijuana conflicts with the school’s mission to provide “the finest liberal arts education in the country.”

Ignoring for a moment that someone just claimed marijuana and words like “liberal” and “arts” are incompatible, we don’t think this is all that bad.

Colleges and universities put restrictions on what we’re allowed to do while we’re here all the time, even when those things are legal under state and federal law.

In addition to drugs, use of cigarettes, alcohol — even technically “indecent” behavior — are all subject to certain restrictions and disciplinary actions by the university should those restrictions be ignored.

The Indiana University Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities prohibits drug use both on and off campus.  Students with certain types of financial aid can also lose it if caught using drugs.

Other universities in the state, like Anderson University, have broad codes of conduct that prohibit drug use and apply to students’ behavior no matter where they are until they no longer attend that university.

Students who choose to enroll at universities like Anderson or Colorado College probably know how restrictive these schools’ drug policies are when they do so.

There’s a difference between the force of a policy’s rhetoric and its force in action.
Alcohol isn’t allowed in IU dorm rooms, and that policy has obviously not prevented instances of bunk bed inebriation.

The bottom line is most college students in states like Colorado and Washington that legalize recreational use of marijuana are too young to legally possess it anyway.

Many will probably still smoke on campus or off, breaking all kinds of rules.

Most of them will probably still get away with it.

But for the students who don’t, the repercussions of outdated, punitive policy will still be felt and will likely and unnecessarily disrupt their college careers.

Colleges pride themselves as institutions always on the vanguard of society.
With the victories in Washington and Colorado, it’s clear society’s attitude about cannabis are quickly changing.

It’s time for colleges to get with the times as well.

­— opinion@idsnews.com