CAMPUS HAZY ON PRESCRIPTION POT

Campus police officers were called to a room in Desmond Hall to
locate a student who was believed to be smoking marijuana in his
room. When they arrived Thursday evening, the student showed them his
state-issued medical marijuana card, as if that would be the end of it.

He was lucky. According to the police media log, officers let him off
with a warning, saying only that the residence halls were not an
appropriate place to smoke. But for the student - housing officials
declined to release his name because of privacy concerns - things
could have been much worse.

Sacramento State public safety officials say they are under no
obligation to recognize state-issued medical marijuana cards.
Attorneys at the CSU Chancellor's Office have advised police that
they do not believe the state's medical marijuana law applies to
college campuses.

California voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996, which created a
program in which people could obtain doctor's recommendations to use
marijuana to treat conditions like cancer and AIDS, but also simpler
ailments like chronic pain and migraines. The state began issuing
medical marijuana identification cards, which patients would use to
obtain marijuana from state-regulated dispensaries.

This brought the state into conflict with federal law, which does not
recognize any legitimate use for marijuana. But the details of the
law are still being worked out, with case law being established by
continued court challenges to the measure. This leaves open many
questions to how specifically the law can be applied that can only be
settled through future litigation.

The murkiness surrounding the state law on medical marijuana puts the
California State University system in a difficult situation. Public
safety officers are instructed to follow the more restrictive federal
law within campus boundaries even though federal law's jurisdiction
is debatable.

CSU Chancellor Charles Reed issued a memo to CSU campuses in 2005,
titled Executive Order 930, that outlines the current policy for
handling drug offenses. Reed wrote that the CSU was required to be in
compliance with the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 and the
California Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1990, which mandates measures
to prevent employees from using illegal drugs, because the system
receives federal funding. Recognizing the state law would risk losing
that funding.

Already, a lawsuit that settles this ambiguity may be in the works.
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said in an e-mail that the group, along
with the American Civil Liberties Union, planned to sue Humboldt
State University "to compel state officials to treat medical cannabis
like any other scheduled drugs."

Potentially, the case could affect the entire CSU system and how it
enforces marijuana laws.

Under any circumstances, smoking marijuana is against residence hall
policies, said residence life coordinator Josh O'Connor. Despite the
ambiguity in medical marijuana laws, he said the residence halls set
its own policies that were separated from state law.

"It does not change our views because we cannot allow illegal
substances to be stored or smoked in the residence halls," O'Connor
said. He noted that smoking cigarettes, although legal, is banned in
the residence halls because it is a fire hazard.

When students in the dorms are caught smoking marijuana, they can be
referred to drug counseling through the Health Center. They are then
required to attend four counseling sessions with Cyndra Krogen, the
center's drug and alcohol counselor. Students using medical marijuana
end up speaking to Krogen about health problems associated with
marijuana, even though they are using the drug to treat other health problems.

Krogen said that the students she sees view marijuana use as a
relatively harmless act, and most are experienced users.

"By the time you've gotten caught, you've probably been doing it for
a while," she said.

She said that smelling marijuana smoke in the residence halls was
fairly easy and that students who smoke typically do so to push the
limits of residence hall rules.

Krogen said that when she talks to students, she tries to be
non-judgmental and have an equal, two-way conversation, rather than a
stereotypical anti-drug lecture.

"I don't push any ideas in their heads or anything like that," she said.

She said she believes that marijuana has some legitimate medicinal
uses and understands how it can help relieve pain, but contended that
the drug had side effects.

"Sometimes people don't believe it, but it really has been proven to
cause a motivational syndrome," she said, adding that when people are
high "they just want to sit around and play video games and things like that."

Obtaining marijuana legally is supposed to be limited to those with
valid medical reasons, but loopholes exist. Websites like potdoc.com
promise quick recommendations for medical marijuana through doctors
who are licensed professionals, but build their business on providing
quick access to legal marijuana, even for patients who may not need it.

Krogen said that when marijuana was easily obtainable for relatively
minor ailments, this distracted from more legitimate uses of the
drug, like for treating more serious diseases. "None of the students
I've met with really sounded like they had a really hard time getting
it," she said.

Cynthia Cockrill, housing and residence life director, said that
students who wished to use medical marijuana should know better
before moving into the dorms. Residence Life sends brochures and
information to students and their families well before move-in day,
which outline what the rules and policies are in the halls, she said.

"If you have to smoke dope because of a medical condition, living in
the residence halls isn't for you," Cockrill said. "It doesn't let
you come into the institution and say because I have a card I get to
smoke marijuana."

Cockrill, a self-described "child of the '60s," said that she had a
hard time sympathizing with students using medical marijuana cards.
To her, the documents seemed inauthentic and not based on a
legitimate need for the drug. All students living on-campus fill out
a form where they are supposed to disclose health conditions, which
are kept confidential and used during an emergency.

"No one has said, 'I'm in chronic pain and I need to smoke medical
marijuana,'" she said. "So, you know, it's just kind of interesting."

The license agreement that all students living in the residence halls
must agree to cover drug use with a blanket statement: "Except as
lawfully prescribed, drugs are prohibited." But that only covers
drugs that are lawfully prescribed under federal law.

The university's Guide to Residential Life, which is updated annually
and given to new residents, is more specific. "Marijuana is illegal,"
it states. "Use of marijuana in any form on university property is
prohibited. Medical marijuana cards are not recognized."

Campus police public information officer Kelly Clark said that until
a court case proves otherwise, the Chancellor's Office would likely
continue current policies. He said that public safety would treat
university-affiliated housing, like the off-campus Upper Eastside
Lofts, as subject to federal enforcement until told otherwise.

Clark said that while police officers were required to study the
state penal code and understand the laws, it was not always as simple
as rote memorization. "Even though the textbook says something,
there's lots and lots of interpretation that comes about," he said.