Pubdate: Wed, 28 Jun 2017
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2017 Postmedia Network
Contact:  http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Janet French
Page: A3

EDUCATORS GRAPPLE WITH IMPLICATIONS OF LEGAL POT

Never did Alberta School Boards Association president Mary Martin
think she'd have a file labelled "Marijuana" among her advocacy documents.

As the July 2018 date for legal recreational marijuana in Canada
approaches, every school board in the province will have to revisit
policies and procedures, from student codes of conduct to rules about
administering medication, said Kevin Andrea, superintendent of
Whitecourt-based Northern Gateway Public Schools.

"There's not one school board in the province that could say that we
are ready now for this," Andrea said Tuesday.

Boards are closely watching the Alberta government's decisions about
how and where pot can be consumed in public, the legal age for use and
municipal decisions about where dispensaries can be located, said
Martin, who is also a Calgary Catholic school trustee.

"Clearly, the issue of safety for our kids is paramount to school
boards," she said.

Edmonton Public Schools will have clear rules ready by next summer
governing marijuana use on and off school property, superintendent
Darrel Robertson told a May school board meeting.

"It's not going to be acceptable to be at school under the influence
of marijuana or any other substance," Robertson said.

What the district lacks are presentations and other resources to
prevent students from driving while drug impaired, or explaining the
potential effects of cannabis on students' health, Robertson said.
Nearly 29 per cent of 15- to 19-year-olds said they'd illegally used
cannabis, according to a Health Canada survey in 2015.

Legalization hopefully gives teachers more chances to have frank
discussions with students about cannabis use, said Rebecca
Haines-Saah, a University of Calgary community health sciences
professor who researches youth marijuana use.

Fear of legal consequences or suspension stops many youth from talking
to school staff about the risks, she said.

School authorities have told the province's cannabis secretariat
they're concerned about where pot retailers will be located relative
to schools, said spokeswoman Jennifer Mitok in an email Tuesday.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt