Marijuana usage among college students is an increasing issue that Cabrini and several other colleges across the country have seen in the past few years.
“I haven’t seen anything up close and personal, but I have heard a couple stories where authorities were addressed and brought onto campus”, Dylan Kelly, junior business major said, said.
“It’s kind of annoying. I feel like wherever I go I hear someone ask the question, do you smoke? Do you want to smoke?” Jenna Palmer, freshman, said.
A study on marijuana usage, conducted by Pew Research Center, showed that millennials between the ages of 18 to 34 are at the forefront of support of legalization: 68 percent favor legalization, which is the highest percentage of any other age cohort.
The nation’s debate over the legalization of marijuana has had an impact on students and results show a variety of different feelings about the illicit drug.
A recent informal survey conducted at Cabrini College revealed that out of 50 respondents between the ages of 18-25, 34 students support the legalization of marijuana.
Supporters and opposers of legalization of marijuana have their own reasoning for why they feel the way they do about this drug that has many benefits and dangers. On top of that, some find it concerning that students are not as worried about getting caught with the drug in general.
“I think kids are going to smoke either way and if they get in trouble they are just going to do it again and hope not to get caught,” Rebecca Dean, bio pre-dental major, said.
According to a study conducted by Pew Research Center, 53 percent of respondents support legalization while 44 percent oppose the legalization.
Among the supporters, 41 percent believe that marijuana should be legal because of the medical benefits and 36 percent say that it is not as dangerous as other illicit drugs.
On the contrary, 43 percent of marijuana opponents are against legalization because of the potential dangers it has to individuals and society.
Out of all the benefits and dangers, why are students more lenient towards supporting legalization?
“Contrary to public opinion we are not a dumb generation, we have access to the entire world and its wealth of knowledge, including all the information on marijuana and the chemicals and toxins that are in it,” Kelly said.
The Cabrini College handbook of Standards of Student Conduct, explains the concern for unauthorized drug use and that proper protocol would be that residence life and public safety would handle the incidents, but recently the college has had to turn the matter over to the authorities in some cases.
Students though continue to disregard that and are not very concerned about public safety contacting higher authorities.
“Young adults are going to do what they want to do. A lot of people view the criminalization of marijuana as wrong doing but also view it as a leisurely and recreational activity,” Kelly said.
“Perspective, it’s all about perspective. Just like the person who chooses to smoke cigarettes chooses to do so and understands the risks and harms associated with it’s use. Cigarettes kill millions of people each year because the companies have pooled millions of dollars to keep them legal, even though the fact that they can kill you has been accepted,” Kelly said.
