Fourth-year Fine Arts student, Stuart, who asked to use a pseudonym so he could talk about drug use candidly, once asked his Painting 101 professor if he could grab something from his car, then walked to the shed outside the ET building and lit a joint that he bought from a legal dispensary on Route 1.
He says, “When I’m under the influence, my imagination, and honestly my perception, becomes a little fucky-wucky and makes me more creative. It kinda helps me but I wouldn’t do it on the daily.”
Stuart adds “And when I say make me more creative, I mean, whenever I’m stressed, I feel less creative…So having that calm of getting to smoke some weed, it helps a little bit to relieve stress so that I can paint better.”
While Stuart was only one of a few who would talk directly with the VOICE, he isn’t the only one getting high on campus according to a VOICE survey of 39 students. It revealed that 23 percent had attended class while on drugs of some kind. The reasons given for the drug use varied, with 44 percent answering that they felt it helped with taking the class they attended and 56 percent wanting to do it for fun or for no particular reason.
Bianca, a fourth year Criminal Justice major, who also asked to go by a pseudonym said of the moment when she smoked from another student’s cartridge for the first time. She said, “It was just ‘cuz. It was there. She offered and I was like ‘Hmm why not?’ It was like right after the class ended, like just before my next one.”
Referring to another occurrence where she took an edible before coming to school she said, “I don’t remember why I took it. I think I just… was bored and it would be entertaining to take.”
When asked why she took drugs during this specific class, she responded with “I definitely didn’t think those classes were the most fun and like, mentally stimulating I guess you can say.” She said she would come to class high in required classes that were not related to her major.
Tatiana Dodge, Director of Development and Alumni Relations at MCCC says was surprised to learn of the drug use statistics revealed by the survey. She said, “I’ve never smelled or seen anybody and been like ‘wow that person seems really out of it’ or like ‘wow I just walked through a cloud of smoke.’”
By contrast, Biology Professor Rachael Klaus told The VOICE, “I see students come in who reek of marijuana, and sometimes it’s really distracting. As a teacher, it’s distracting to me…to the point where I’ve been nauseated.”
Klaus continued, “I’m concerned about having all these students in the lab, especially in a dangerous situation. I’m working with scalpels and sharp objects.”
Dave DiMarchi, a Fine Arts adjunct Professor, tries to understand the students’ motivations.
He says, “I think college students right now are facing drastically different things, and if the coping mechanism is through the use of microdosing shrooms or alcohol or marijuana, then I’m not really super shocked about that. The use on campus? I think that shocks me a little bit more.”
