Marijuana easier to bring into schools
After becoming the first state to legalize marijuana for recreational use on Jan. 1, less detectable ways of using the drug are on the rise for teenagers in Colorado. Some of these nearly undetectable methods include vaporizer pens and edibles, which are making it more difficult for school officials to find drugs on campus.
Edibles are nearly impossible to detect because it’s difficult to tell a pot brownie from a regular brownie—one that Mom made and packed in a lunchbox for her child. There is also a huge problem when Mom is the one making the pot brownies (though probably not packing them in any lunchbox) because children love brownies; therefore, some children have reportedly taken edibles from their parents accidentally. According to USA Today, kids are getting in to their parents’ edible stashes inadvertently. In fact, physician George Wang told USA Today that his emergency room in Children’s Hospital Denver treats at least one or two kids each month for unintentional marijuana ingestion in, mostly from candies or brownies.
Marijuana candy at the Terrapin Care Station. The picture was taken Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014, in Boulder, Colo. The dispensary, located on the corner of Folsom Street and Canyon Boulevard, was the first recreational pot shop to open in Boulder. (Kai Casey/CU Independent)
The legal age to use marijuana in Colorado is 21, though many teenagers ignore the law. According to Fossil Ridge High School resource officer Tammy Holpuch, high school students are using it more than ever. “Marijuana is hard enough to keep out of the hands of teens, and legalization hasn’t helped,” she said.
“Kids are now able to take their parents’ marijuana instead of raiding the alcohol cabinet.”
Another object that is causing problems in school are vaporizer pens, which are designed to look like regular pens but can instead hold marijuana. Many teachers are not able to tell the difference between a student biting on the tip of their writing utensil or taking a hit from a “vape pen,” which are odorless and smokeless. “Some kids have been caught smoking from the vaporizer pens in the bathroom, and supposedly they even smoke in class,” Holpuch said.
Using marijuana or any other drug is against the FRHS code of conduct, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping some students. Holpuch said the pens are easy to purchase on the Internet. Some even take them from their parents or buy them from each other.
The main problem for schools is that both of these methods of using the drug are hard to detect and therefore easy to bring on to a campus. Students could easily be getting high on school property or even in front of a teacher’s face without being caught. Still, the illegal use doesn’t come without problems. In a drug seminar at Fossil Ridge High School in February, Lynn Reimer from ACT on Drugs, Inc. said marijuana use can lead to driving under the influence, addiction, and trying stronger drugs.
Please contact the resource officer if you have information on drugs being used at FRHS.
