Students, faculty and visitors to the state's three universities are going to have to go without their medical marijuana even though it's legal under state law.
Policies adopted or being crafted by the schools say their campuses will remain drug-free zones. Officials said their obligations under federal law trump Arizona statutes.
Proposition 203, approved in November, allows those who have a specific recommendation from a doctor to legally obtain 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks from state-regulated dispensaries.
But Glenn George, the general counsel for the University of Arizona, pointed out in a memo that two separate federal laws say that college and universities must adopt and implement "a program to prevent the use of illicit drugs and abuse of alcohol by students and employees."
She said that, Arizona law notwithstanding, federal law prohibits possession and use of marijuana, even for medical purposes. And the penalty for schools that don't enforce that, George said, is loss of any federal aid, including student participation in the guaranteed student loan program.
Tom Bauer, spokesman for Northern Arizona University, said his school is in the process of adopting similar restrictions, right down to residence halls.
Bauer said federal laws do allow students with legitimate prescriptions to have those medications, even drugs that could be seen as potentially more dangerous. He said, though, the difference is that drugs like OxyContin are legal for those with a prescription under federal law; marijuana is not.
He said that, from the perspective of university officials, there are no options.
"We would stand to lose millions of dollars, both in financial aid and research grants," Bauer said.
Arizona State University spokesman Virgil Renzulli said his school is subject to the same federal policies about drug-free campuses as the other schools.
PeacefulCat posted at 8:28 am on Thu, Jan 27, 2011.
Today's colleges and students are an embarrassment. They should be protecting the front line on civil rights and social reform
PeacefulCat posted at 8:23 am on Thu, Jan 27, 2011.
These folks don't care about the law or the will of the people.
The DEA won't even let schools and universities study marijuana.
They don't want you growing pot in your back yard and they don't want you to discover that marijuana kills cancer cells and tumors.
They want to keep the price so high that people will still rob, smuggle and kill over the money. And they want to tax the cowards of this nation to protect them from the bad laws they protect.
Join U.S. Hemp in the Uncoditional End of the Prohibition of Marijuana. Do you want leaders that are stupid or evil enough to prohibit the use of a weed that cures cancer. These folks need to be in jail instead of being allowed to sabatage the laws of this state and will of the people.
They don't believe you have enough courage or resources to take your government back from these thugs.
Freethinker posted at 8:15 am on Thu, Jan 27, 2011.
johnnyp wrote:
"It is legal for those over 21 to drink alcohol in this state but that doesn't mean the ASU needs to have a bar on campus."
There are over 15 bars within walking distance of the main ASU campus. Go count them if you don't believe me.
Could you imagine even HALF that number of marijuana dispensaries? Impracticle - your analogy fails.
johnnyp posted at 7:26 am on Thu, Jan 27, 2011.
Good for them. Federal law notwithstanding, just because the state passed a law that allows for these facilities doesn't mean that every state run business needs to run out and have one on their property. It is legal for those over 21 to drink alcohol in this state but that doesn't mean the ASU needs to have a bar on campus.
Freethinker posted at 7:04 pm on Wed, Jan 26, 2011.
"the difference is that drugs like OxyContin are legal for those with a prescription under federal law"
Wow.
Just...wow.
Is any sane, rational person REALLY going to attempt to argue that OxyContin is IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM a "safer" drug than marijuana?!
Freethinker posted at 7:01 pm on Wed, Jan 26, 2011.
"Policies adopted or being crafted by the schools say their campuses will remain drug-free zones."
And this will apply to ALL legal drugs, or will the policies be bigoted, discriminatory, and otherwise unconstitutional?
"college and universities must adopt and implement "a program to prevent the use of illicit drugs and abuse of alcohol by students and employees."
A legal drug obtained through a prescription is illicit?
Illicit (adjective)
not legally permitted or authorized; unlicensed; unlawful.
Since medical marijuana is legal, it is NOT illicit.
Using their own wording, these policies won't stand up in their first court case.