Marijuana

Marijuana

By Jake Bradner, The Whetstone

Junior Kenneth Ciccoli thinks there’s no way Wesley will allow students to smoke marijuana in dorms after it becomes decriminalized in Delaware in mid-December.

“That wouldn’t happen simply because the school likes to stipulate its own rules,” he said. “I feel pretty certain that they won’t even allow it on campus and they’ll probably still hand out fines.”

This summer, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell signed a bill that allows the possession and private use of small amounts of marijuana legal in the state of Delaware beginning Dec. 18.

Although smoking marijuana will become legal, a person has to be 21 years or older and one may only have an ounce or less at one time.

You also can’t smoke it in public; if you do, you will be fined $100.

The law now makes simple marijuana possession a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a maximum fine of $1,150.

“I feel like it’d still be subject to campus rules since Wesley goes by their own standards,” said senior Felix Ortiz . “However, if they were to let that happen, I hope it wouldn’t be chaotic and I hope there would be more responsibility on the student’s part, as well as the staff, faculty and security.”

Ortiz said he’d be OK if marijuana were in the dorms.

“I don’t necessarily see a problem with it, as long as responsible people are involved,” he said.

Senior Rich Britt said that if Wesley doesn’t let students smoke in the dorms, they should at least lower the fine.  Wesley fines a student $230 if he or she is caught smoking marijuana.

“That reduced fine of $100 is a lot better than anything we’d have to deal with,” he said.

Dean of Students Wanda Anderson said that until a new policy is approved, the College would maintain the current smoking policy.

“As you might guess, this is a delicate issue,” she said. “Being a private college we are not held to the same guidelines as public/state colleges in Delaware. We will explore our policy to consider all perspectives as we make the best decision for the future of Wesley College.”