Brazen pot-smoking among Colorado school students

One of the "gifts" Colorado voters gave to young people was passage of laws legalizing marijuana for recreational use. The Denver Post has this story today:

"We have seen a sharp rise in drug-related disciplinary actions which, anecdotally, from credible sources, is being attributed to the changing social norms surrounding marijuana," said Janelle Krueger. Krueger is the program manager for Expelled and At-Risk Student Services for the Colorado Department of Education and also a longtime adviser to the Colorado Association of School Resource Officers.

Krueger said school officials believe the jump is linked to the message that legalization (even though it is still prohibited for anyone under 21) is sending to kids: that marijuana is a medicine and a safe and accepted recreational activity. It is also believed to be more available.

"They just want to be cool," said Dillon of some of the younger students he has seen with pot at school.

Jeff Grady, a Grand Junction school resource officer who has spent 25 years working in schools, tells a story about sitting in his car at a park near Grand Junction High School one day watching groups of kids through binoculars because they come to the park to smoke on lunch breaks.

"Kids are smoking before school and during lunch breaks. They come into school reeking of pot," he said. "They are being much more brazen."

He said school officials call him and he talks to the kids, but it is a little more difficult now to cite them if they aren't caught in the act. They can say that they were around an adult medical marijuana user and weren't smoking themselves, Grady said.

The best quantifiable evidence the state has yet to indicate that marijuana is a significantly growing problem in schools comes from the 2012-13 report that documents why 720 students were expelled from public schools across Colorado.

For the first time, marijuana was separated from other drugs when school officials were asked to identify the reason for students' expulsions. Marijuana came in first. It was listed as being a reason for 32 percent of expulsions.

National statistics also point to marijuana being more prevalent in schools.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse found that marijuana use has climbed among 10th- and 12th-graders nationally, while the use of other drugs and alcohol has held steady or declined.