As of today, cannabis is legal in Canada.
Some Orillia high school students are anxious that it could become a distraction in their classrooms.
Melia Settle, a Grade 10 student at Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School disagrees with the federal government’s move to make pot legal.
“It shouldn’t be legalized,” said Settle. “People are going to be walking into our school smelling like weed. That isn’t what my friends or I want.”
All the buzz about the legalization has Grade 9 Patrick Fogarty student Isaiah Russell concerned for his fellow classmates.
“It’s not good, it’s going to ruin people’s lives,” said Russell. “It’s not going to effect me because I’m not going to do it, but other kids in our school… it’s going to ruin their careers.”
Eden Stora, a Grade 11 student at Twin Lakes Secondary School, said she believes the legalization of cannabis will help her and other students be more successful in school.
“It’s an important issue that people need to realize, that even with the struggle at high school at a young age, it’s hard enough being a teenager in general,” she said. “With all the stress and pressure we tend to lose focus and want to drift off and be happy, and make a change to be successful,” Stora told Orillia Matters.
“I think it helps takes the anxiety and pressure of all the people around me away and just lets me focus on my self and my work,” said Stora.
Stora and other students who are hoping to take advantage of the legalization of cannabis, will be disappointed to know that both the Simcoe County District School Board and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic School Board will be disciplining students who are impaired as a result of cannabis use.
“Alcohol and recreational cannabis are prohibited in the school or on school property,” said Pauline Stevenson, the Communications Manager for the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic School Board. “If we believe or suspect that somebody is impaired because of one of those two things, there would be disciplinary action.”
John Dance, the Associate Director of Education and Superintendent of Human Resource Services for the Simcoe County District School Board, said he is confident the legalization of cannabis will have little impact at area high schools.
“Marijuana for students who are of school age, whether it be secondary or elementary, it is still illegal. It’s a restricted drug, it is illegal (for minors), it should not be on school property,” said Dance.
Stevenson agreed and said she is confident in the school staff’s ability to react and control the situation if it were to become an issue.
“It’s hard to know or anticipate how people are going to react, but certainly our principals will know what our board stance is, and they are quite familiar and aware on how to deal with all kinds of situations like this,” said Stevenson. “They’ve been dealing with it for years, in terms of alcohol or illegal drugs.”
Both school boards already teach their students about drug and alcohol abuse in their health and fitness curriculums, and will continue to stress this subject to students going forward, but there is no change in urgency on the subject due to the new legalization, officials say.
