A presentation on cannabis legislation at School District 69 Qualicum’s June 26 board meeting may have opened some eyes in the audience to what Dr. Paul Hasselback called “a growing concern and a new world order.”
But, for the school board, it was a refresher, with superintendent Rollie Koop and board chair Eve Flynn saying SD69 is “ahead of where we need to be” in terms of being prepared to deal with the coming legalization of marijuana.
The Cannabis Act has been passed into law, and will come into force Oct. 17.
When it comes to being an employer and an educator of youth, Koop said, “It’s never going to be OK to be in the workplace or in a learning environment when impairment is present, and that will need to become our focus.”
Hasselback, a medical health officer with the Vancouver Island Health Authority, underscored the impact legalized marijuana legislation will have in general, saying, “It will be a new type of world,” but said he would not characterize the change as good or bad.
He said his goal was to inform school districts of what to expect and consider. He noted that among those 15 and older, cannabis use has gone up in B.C. since about 2011, from a little more than 12 per cent to 17.2 per cent. That’s higher than in Canada overall.
Medically, the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons also recommends that those under 25 not be prescribed cannabis. “Now the legal age (to purchase and possess cannabis) is going to be 19,” said Hasselback. “Both are beyond the school system. The real important point in this is that younger use, frequent use, earlier onset is more likely to be associated with the development of chronic, persistent mental illness, which is going to be a lifelong disorder.”
Hasselback also noted that, while federal legislation decriminalizes youth possession of up to five grams of cannabis (about one joint), B.C. legislation prohibits possession and consumption of cannabis by minors.
“One of the reasons I bring this forward is there have been people out there saying it’s legal to have five grams as a youth because of federal legislation,” however provincial legislation will be in force.
None of these points were a surprise to Flynn or Koop, they said, with trustees and the administration already hard at work on policy.
“I think for me, one of the key pieces is going to be the focus on impairment, not what the substance is,” said Koop in terms of SD69 policy.
“The question of the consideration about medical versus recreation use, it’s still not going to be OK to be impaired at the workplace, whether it’s a legal drug, a prescribed medication or an illicit street drug,” he said. “If you’re impaired at work, as an employer, we have an obligation, and as a worker, you have an obligation to disclose that you are in that position.”
“That will need to become our focus, particularly if there is confusion created by new legislation, that period of time it takes to settle things out a bit in people’s mind and come to a clear understanding.”
Currently, the school district’s policy on dealing with youth drug use does not focus on punishment, but on assistance and clear expectations for eliminating drug use.
This policy was created more than a decade ago, moving from punishing students by kicking them out of school for increasing periods of time.
“What the board of the day did was move to a process of keeping kids close, being clear about what expectations are and then holding them accountable for their actions and coming to understand where they’re at on a continuum of use,” said Koop.
“Is this a kid who took a sip of a mickey before a dance, or is this a kid who’s using every day, because how we treat one or the other is going to be very different, and so it becomes engaging the student in self-reflection, to come into a forum to talk with them and their parents about where their use is, what the reasons might be.”
“I think it’s a very supportive mechanism, rather than slam, five days, you’re gone,” said Flynn. “That was not where we wanted to be.”
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