With the recent proposal of Senate Bill 350, the state of Pennsylvania may soon see the legalization of cannabis, also known as marijuana, for recreational use. Although the bill has not yet passed due to a lack of support from Republicans in the House of Representatives, many believe the bill will eventually be enacted.

However good or bad this may be for the state, enacting such a bill could create policy issues for college campuses and facilities that prohibit the use of drugs, including marijuana, on their properties.

Waynesburg University could see a rise in drug-related incidents on campus if the bill is passed, said Michael Humiston, director of the Department of Public Safety at the university.

“My experience is that when things become legalized, numbers have to escalate,” he said. “We, as a department are anticipating that. We hope they don’t, but we are going to be prepared when they do.”

Humiston said even if marijuana is legalized, Waynesburg University will not change its policies, and both use and possession of the drug will continue to be prohibited on university property. Despite this, Humiston said there are always those who will go against the policies.

With the use of marijuana gradually becoming more accepted, incidents concerning the drug are already one of the most common on-campus.

“Unfortunately, it’s being widely accepted,” Humiston said. “Even though it is spelled out a number of different ways in our policies and procedures at the university that there are no drugs and no alcohol on campus, there are always those people who either choose to ignore that policy or procedure, or just flat out refuse to abide by it.”

According to Waynesburg University’s crime statistics log located on their website, 23 drug abuse violations were reported in the past three years. Although this is a small number compared to larger schools, and even many colleges and universities the same size as Waynesburg University, over a third of the reported incidents were due to possession or selling of marijuana on school property.

Chris Hardie, assistant dean of Student Services, said that since Waynesburg University has continued to be strict with their policies against drug use, despite the changed perception of recreational drugs. 

Like Humiston, Hardie believes those numbers will only continue to rise.

“It’s just going to become more prevalent in society and more culturally accepted, so students are going to come in with this idea that it’s OK and probably break policy here and there. That would be my sense,” he said.

Hardie said the university is looking into options to keep policy violations down, especially if marijuana becomes legalized in the state.

“We’ve gotten in front of the issue. We’ve tried to look at new policies and adapting our policies,” he said. “If Pennsylvania changes things, I think we need to adjust our policy as well. Regardless, drugs are still going to be a policy violation, it’s just how we are going to process it [that may change].”

Beyond possible adjustments to policy, Hardie and Humiston said faculty, staff and students continue to create an environment that discourages violations. Hardie said they try to combat peer pressure and put an emphasis on making sure students know how policy violations and the use of drugs can hurt their futures.

“I think we have a great student body that believes in the policies and procedures of our institution, and if they see something, smell something, or hear something, they say something,” Humiston said.