Marijuana is more than just a ‘little thing between friends’

Danielle Sorcher
Features Editor

In the past few months, there have been a number of drug-related disciplinary actions. In one case, there was a drug-related expulsion, and in another, a drug-related punishment was downgraded. On Feb. 28, a student was arrested from a November charge of selling marijuana.

“In my opinion, there has been an inordinate number of suspensions relating to marijuana, whether it is an issue due to direct use or something we found out or having to do with the police,” Principal Tony Pavia said. “We’re seeing a marijuana that’s different than the ‘old’ drug; it’s not just a harmless teenage experiment.”

Some students believe that the increase in the number of kids caught for marijuana usage and sale is due to carelessness. “Kids are just being stupid lately,” senior Brady* said.

“I’ve had weed in my pocket while going through school before. You have to be careful because sometimes it smells but it’s unlikely you’ll get caught unless you’re stupid about it,” junior Jack* said.

Mr. Pavia believes that the reason for the increase in people being caught is due to the aggression of the administration. “We’ve been aggressive this year because we’re seeing [marijuana]more and reading consistently in national publications that there is an increase in the trend [of marijuana usage],” he said.

When it comes to the distribution of marijuana, students make their own distinctions between behavior that’s friendly and behavior that’s criminal. If someone has weed and offers it to a friend, “it’s lending and borrowing. If I’m friends with them, I’ll let them have some,” junior Sarah* said. “It’s a little thing between friends—it’s sharing. If they pay you, it’s still sharing, but it’s more of a joint payment than dealing.”

Jack’s definition aligned with Sarah’s. “Dealers are only people who make a profit from selling weed. They buy in bulk and make money by selling individually,” he said. “Dealers usually buy weed from a distributor that gets their weed from places like Iran, Canada, Mexico, or more recently California, and then they buy bags and a scale and they get it to people who want to buy [in New Canaan].”

Sergeant Carol Ogrinc, the Public Relations Officer at the New Canaan Police Department, defined dealers as people who accept money for the exchange of a drug. “We think of a dealer as someone who is making a profit; otherwise they are distributing,” she said. However, Sergeant Ogrinc maintains that both dealing and distributing are crimes.

If a student is arrested for either the sale or distribution of marijuana, whether the offense is on or off campus, they are automatically suspended for 10 days and receive a letter of recommendation to expel. Mr. Pavia explained that a student could be in Cape Cod during the summer and be arrested for the sale or distribution of drugs, and still receive the recommendation to expel. “What students don’t know and need to know is that there are two levels of off campus behavior that could result in serious disciplinary consequences in school,” Mr. Pavia said. “[One is] the sale or distribution of drugs as defined by the state of Connecticut.”

When students receive a letter of recommendation to expel, they must attend an expulsion hearing, which occurs during the 10-day suspension time period. The hearing is split into two parts. “The first part of the hearing is finding the facts, and the arrest alone is the fact,” Mr. Pavia said. “If a student is carrying something that resembles an intent to sell [or distribute], that’s it [and they’re expelled]. The rest of the hearing becomes a formality.”

Even with the possibility of extreme consequences, students still use drugs on school campus. “I’ve been high at a lot of assemblies or during frees, but mainly when we’re not doing work in school,” Jack said.

Junior Janice* has noticed students on drugs during school. “I’ve been able to tell in my classes when people are completely stoned,” she said. “Sometimes it even reeks. And it reflects on our school—we live in a really nice town and go to a really good school but weed is everywhere.”

According to School Psychologist Dr. Rossella Fanelli, using drugs in school can be an indication of addiction. “I think that using drugs in school is a big red flag for the administration,” she said. “It alerts everyone to the fact that the student is most likely dealing with drug addiction. If they’re doing it in school, they’re showing a level of involvement that is unusual.”

Many students, however, don’t realize that there can be such negative consequences. “If you know what you’re doing, then drugs don’t affect school,” Brady said.

Yet the detrimental effects of drug use can be numerous. “If students become really involved in the drug culture, they lose their concentration and their motivation, their grades go down, and they can get in trouble with the law. It
can to go an extent where they need to go to rehabilitation programs, or to leave this school for another,” Dr. Fanelli said. “There are dramatic effects. It certainly impacts the family as well in a negative way. They can [also]lose connections with previous friends—they can change their friendships to where it suddenly evolves all around drugs and alcohol.”

Jack fears this loss of control himself. “The main fear for me is taking a drug that makes me lose control—I don’t want to take a drug that makes me need to constantly go back to it,” he said.

Janice has seen students unable to manage their drug use firsthand. “I’ve seen a large portion of my friends on drugs and I don’t want to lose control of my life,” she said. “I’ve never used drugs and I never will. It’s not like my friends haven’t asked me to [use drugs]but I don’t like the way they ask me—I don’t like the pressure. And even for people that aren’t my friends—I’ve seen it completely destroy their lives.”

Both Jack and Brady have experienced harmful outcomes with weed, though many may consider it to be one of the more benign drugs. “I’ve smoked piff—weed with heroin in it—and I didn’t know it at the time,” Jack said. “I got really messed up for the day and I actually don’t remember any of that day except for a few visual snapshots in my head.”

“I don’t know what was in [the weed], but I passed out while I was walking with my friend and woke up at a Chinese restaurant three hours later,” Brady said. “I felt like I was going to die. I woke up in a puddle of my own sweat and my friend was facedown in his rice bowl.”

Parents’ reactions to their kids’ marijuana use differs, and also affects the fight against drugs. Though Brady’s parents would not be okay with drug usage, he recognizes that other parents are. “Most of my friends’ parents care less about outside of school activities as long as the grades are good,” he said.

“I’m pretty open about marijuana [usage]with my mom,” Jack said. “She’s okay with it as long as there’s a designated driver, I’m not smoking in the house, and that I’m in control.”

The legal and mental consequences of drug use might lead one to question why exactly kids do it. “It’s something to do,” Brady said. “That’s always the excuse, but it rings true. We live in a small town, have lots of free time, and the money to buy drugs.”

*Names have been changed