Is it cannabis? Marijuana? Hemp? Is it bad for you? Good? It depends on who you ask and where you’re looking.
On Tuesday, the Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center (CADEC) connected with a classroom of students in the Student Services Center as they hosted a “Let’s Talk Cannabis” presentation as a part of their Wildcat ROAR! (Reach Out and Respond) series.
CADEC, a resource on campus that originally sought to educate students on the dangers and signs of alcohol poisoning has begun branching out resources to inform students about cannabis, prescriptions, and helping struggling friends. The organization serves to provide students with quality information for making healthy decisions rather than the outdated approach of encouraging abstinence.
The topic of marijuana on campus has been hotly debated. With the legalization of recreational use of cannabis in California in 2016, while still not being legal federally, students may form their opinions based on misleading information or opinions.
With organizations across Chico such as the Butte County Cannabis Art Club–a safe and creative place for people to explore cannabis and art, more people have been open to educating students about the positive sides of the recreational use of cannabis.
During the presentation, CADEC cleared misconceptions that many people have about marijuana including the percentage of students at Chico State who have self-reported their usage of marijuana during the past 20 days as well as the benign and hostile opinions on the drug.
Gustavo Martir, third-year graduate student in Psychology, came to the discussion with the interest of finding a community with a contemporary and accepting understanding of marijuana use.
“I think people still have a lot of misconceptions about cannabis, especially people have the typical ‘pothead stoner’ in their mind and I think people came with those perceived thoughts and notions even left the same,” Martir said.
“The staff was pretty knowledgeable was it was fun. Some of the activities they had such as a ‘Fact vs. Opinion’ game was really nice. But the video they used wasn’t the best — I probably would have used a different video but it might have been the best video they could find.” continued Martir.
“I didn’t know that Chico actually had an anonymous safe place. I also didn’t know the counter-active effects that CBD have with THC.”
The next presentation hosted by CADEC will focus on Alcohol on Oct. 22.
For more information, CADEC can be reached in their office in Sutter Hall on the 5th floor or by calling 898-6450.
Kimberly Morales can be reached at [email protected] or @kimberlymnews on Twitter.
