Marijuana, the average student, and its effects

The debate rages on about marijuana, especially on campuses. But, what’s the big deal?

By Matthew Lawson

Ever since the 1960’s and the hippie movement, marijuana has been a part of campus culture in the United States. Often depicted as fueling a wild lifestyle and debauchery, as seen in movies such as 1978’s “Animal House”, in reality weed is often used by students to casually unwind and connect with each other in ordinary social situations. But marijuana, or cannabis, is not technically permitted on any U.S. college campuses, even in states where it is legal. In Ohio, for example, recreational marijuana became legally available last year, yet Ohio University still bans it on campus. Why is this the case, and do such restrictions truly serve the best interests of students? Is there any chance that schools might lift such bans in the future? 

When considering such questions, it is helpful to understand the history of marijuana laws and research in the U.S. dating back nearly one hundred years.  

For most of the twentieth century, the American public and elected leaders had extremely negative views of marijuana. This was driven in part by law-enforcement agencies that assumed the worst about marijuana even when scientific evidence did not necessarily support their critical views. One example of this took place during the 1930s. Harry J. Anslinger, the director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, turned his attention to fighting marijuana after combating alcohol during the Prohibition era. He defined weed — which was labeled as “marihuana” due to its use throughout Mexico, making the substance sound foreign — as “deleterious, even vicious” and “highly dangerous to the mind and body.” 

Anslinger soon crushed a study done by researchers at the New York Academy of Medicine, which had found that the drug was not particularly addictive or harmful. This pattern of government officials minimizing or hiding the results of studies that painted a more positive picture of marijuana continued for several decades, according to a 2014 investigative article by “Columbia Magazine”. 

By the 1970s, another popular idea emerged, which is that marijuana serves as a “gateway drug” that leads people who experiment with the substance to eventually abuse harder and more seriously harmful drugs like heroin. This idea became popular even though the scientist behind it, Denise Kandel of Columbia University, said that the anti-drug movement exaggerated her findings.

In the past few decades, however, scientists have developed a very different outlook on marijuana. This is because the government has relaxed some rules on scientists studying marijuana and because legalization has led more people to use it, making its effects more apparent. Their studies have generated many new insights, some of which were surprising. For example, marijuana has been found to have many medicinal benefits that were not recognized earlier. 

One of the chemicals found in marijuana, cannabidiol or CBD, has been shown to help many people with conditions such as anxiety disorders, epilepsy, and high blood pressure. This component of marijuana has also been used to help alleviate symptoms found in cancer patients who are going through chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. When observing the results for what CBD has done on those with chemotherapy, the National Institute of Health found that it was more effective than “the placebo and equivalent to the available antiemetics during the time the original trials were concluded.” Marijuana has also been found to help alleviate chronic pain in many people. According to the National Institute of Health, 10.5 percent of individuals solely use cannabis for its medical effects while 46.6 percent use cannabis for a dual use purpose of medical and recreational use.

It is still important to note that while weed has many potential benefits, it also has risks. One of the main negative impacts is from smoke damaging the users’ lungs. According to the National Library of Medicine, while there is no solid evidence that smoking either weed or tobacco is worse than the other, smoking marijuana does deliver four times as much tar than a tobacco cigarette, due to there being no filters on marijuana joints, as there are on commercial cigarettes. Operating automobiles under the influence of marijuana is also dangerous, as weed diminishes one's perceptions and ability to react to situations in a timely manner, according to the Center of Disease Control. Although we commonly associate alcohol with driving under the influence, anyone caught driving after using marijuana can also be arrested and charged with a crime. 

Some people can also develop a physical dependence on marijuana, although the substance is not nearly as addictive as some other drugs, and less so than many believe. Studies have shown that about one in ten people who use marijuana frequently may develop “cannabis use disorder,” which the DSM-5-TR psychiatric manual defines as showing clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by certain conditions occurring within a twelve-month period. Some of these conditions include: being unable to fulfill a major role or obligations at school, work, or home; having strong desires or a cravings for cannabis; and the continued use of cannabis despite knowledge of a persistent or psychological problem caused by or exaggerated by the use of the drug.

Scientists also have many unanswered questions about marijuana that they continue to study. Some are investigating whether marijuana may have additional benefits for treating post-traumatic stress syndrome, glaucoma, and other conditions, but they do not yet have solid conclusions. Scientists also do not yet have a clear understanding of weed's psychological effects and whether recreational or medical marijuana may pose mental-health risks for certain individuals. 

A final question involves whether the medicinal-cannabis industry may oversell the healing power of its products, which are not tightly regulated. This is a concern, experts say, because the marijuana sold today in dispensaries tends to have much higher levels of tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, than in past generations.

Currently, no U.S. colleges or universities permit the use of recreational marijuana on their campuses primarily due to the fact that the substance is still classified as an illegal Schedule 1 drug by the federal government. Schools may worry that allowing students to smoke weed on their campuses could endanger their access to federal funds since the U.S. government could possibly interpret this move as a violation of the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (DFSCA) of 1989, as described on the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) website. Of course, it is also questionable whether parents and alumni would support any relaxation of campus marijuana rules. So, there are a multitude of reasons why students at colleges, including Ohio University, would have a hard time persuading their institutions’ leaders that weed should be removed from the list of contraband items on their campuses. 

However, there could also be advantages of college communities discussing questions that are raised about marijuana’s potential risks and benefits, and possibly even the question of allowing it on campus, especially with the amount of new data and studies that are calling into question old attitudes toward the substance. 

For example, is it fair for weed to be completely banned based solely on the fact that the federal government has the ability to control the federal funds a university receives? Is it possible that students might actually be safer on campus if they had legal access to marijuana instead of only alcohol, whose health risks are arguably more documented? Is it possible that people who do smoke weed would benefit mentally and physically by being able to discuss their experiences using the substance with college officials, rather than feeling the need to hide their behavior? One could imagine, for example, colleges having designated areas where students, staff, or faculty members could use marijuana in a safe environment. 

Students at some colleges around the United States have pushed for weed to be removed from the list of contraband substances from their campuses. However, college officials have been hesitant to heed these opinions. For example, students at the University of Maryland have attempted to convince officials there to reduce punishments for possessing marijuana on campus, but the university has so far refused to loosen its restrictions. It is possible that changes could still come, though. The Marijuana Policy Project, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., has supported students across the country who have advocated for lifting campus bans on marijuana, arguing that colleges should regulate weed no more strictly than alcohol.  

One large national study published by public-health researchers at Columbia University and New York University in 2023 found that in states where recreational marijuana has been legalized, adolescents and young adults are now less likely to participate in dangerous binge drinking, as they are able to access marijuana instead. This raises important questions about whether campus bans on marijuana are actually in the best interests of students. We may benefit by promoting more public discussion of this issue and considering all viewpoints — including those of students themselves.

Wanna chat? Email Matthew at ml300519@ohio.edu, or follow him on instagram at @lawson3060