On-campus marijuana regulations among discussions at March 6 SLC meeting
By Justin Schellenberg, March 12 2018 —
The March 6 Student Legislative Council (SLC) meeting began with a presentation on the University of Calgary’s continuing policy development regarding cannabis usage on campus from U of C legal counsel Deborah Book.
As a member of the cannabis working group, Book is looking at how the university will shape their rules and guidelines surrounding marijuana use on campus. The current Students’ Union vice-president operations and finance Ryan Wallace is also on the working group.
Presenting a draft of the new policy to SLC, Book said the aim is to have rules in place in time for the expected legalization of recreational marijuana this summer.
The discussion focused on the planned implementation of designated cannabis smoking areas situated around campus. Currently, three to four locations are planned on the school’s main campus that will be visibly marked and in compliance with the federal government’s proposed marijuana legislation. These locations include behind MacHall, near the student residences and south of the Education Tower.
Book said all cannabis accessories would need to be stowed away as to not be in plain sight. Non-compliances by students to any of the set rules may lead to non-academic misconduct.
Though Book said she highly recommended against it, there will be no penalties for students attending classes while under the influence of cannabis. Book added that while there are no designated smoking areas for tobacco use right now, the school’s policy will be going under review soon and might see tobacco also being restricted to designated sites. The current rules for smoking tobacco on campus require a 10-metre distance from buildings.
Following, a senate student-at-large representative Alisha Gordon then gave a report on last week’s senate meeting, which had members working on finding a replacement for the U of C’s outgoing chancellor Robert Thirsk. A progress report will be provided to the U of C senate on March 29, according to Gordon.
In their reports, most SLC elected officials said they had worked on transition documents over the last week. Kinesiology representative Sagar Grewal said he attended a meeting regarding gender-neutral change rooms being built in the kinesiology complex. Veterinary medicine representative Julie Choi said she is holding a foosball tournament on April 6 for her faculty.
During the announcement period, vice-president external Puncham Judge said that she is giving a presentation to Calgary City Council on the topic of secondary suites in collaboration with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and Mount Royal University.
The next meeting of the SLC is on March 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the MacHall Executive Council Chambers. All documents from the meetings can be accessed here.