Central Okanagan school district readies itself for legal pot

CENTRAL OKANAGAN – While some governments and institutions have asked for more time to prepare for legal cannabis, the Central Okanagan school district is ready to go.

“Let’s face it, we’ve been in the business of detecting impairment for generations, so I don’t think there’s a lot of extra work there,” superintendent of schools Kevin Kaardal says.

While certainly on their radar, Kaardal doesn’t expect a sudden surge of interest and use on Oct. 17 amongst the district’s 22,500 students — sale of the drug will still be illegal to them as minors and like alcohol, its use will not be allowed on any school property.

“Those who have an interest will likely have already tried it,” Kaardal observes, pointing out he’s much more worried about the introduction of edibles in the coming years and their propensity to end up in the hands of children.

More likely, he says, is a slower increase over the next few years as parents of school age children take up its use, modeling the behaviour and making it more likely their kids will try it too.

“I’m not sure there will be a huge increase in just smoking it, although modelling any kind of behaviour, cigarettes or alcohol, tends to have an impact on young people,” the superintendent adds.

No changes are planned to the district’s alcohol and drug policy other than cannabis now has to be specifically mentioned rather than lumped in with other drugs.

The school district’s code of conduct already forbids possession and consumption of drugs and alcohol.

Those found in possession or under the influence will still be subject to the district's suspension policy which allows indefinite and definite suspensions.

In 2016-2017, last school year for which they have complete statistics, the district handed out 1,067 definite suspensions (where the length of suspension and terms are set out ahead of time).

Drugs were involved in 110 of those, coming fourth on the list behind behaviour (374) truancy (185) and fighting (120) as reasons for suspension.

One difference in the stats might be this: behavioural suspensions and fighting occur almost across the entire grade spectrum from Kindergarten to Grade 12 whereas drug offenses and truancy generally start in middle school and higher.

The district handed out just one indefinite suspension in the 2016-2017 school year and it was related to drugs, although what kind of drug is not noted in the district's suspension report.

Kaardal says the school’s objective is not to punish users, but to try to bring them back on track, connecting them with special school-based services and more intensely monitoring their behaviour.

“It’s really when young people become impaired or doing things in the black market, that’s when we intervene,” he says. "

The superintendent holds no rosy view of cannabis, noting its ability to impair concentration and memory, especially in developing brains plus its potential to damage the lungs.

However, he also knows teens and worries legalization of cannabis will provide an extra pull on their inclination to experiment.

“The best way to combat all of that is through education so we will focus on making sure students understand the risks to mental health, to physical health if it’s the smoking piece,” he says. “Hopefully, they will make good, educated decisions about what they will put in their bodies.”


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John McDonald

John began life as a journalist through the Other Press, the independent student newspaper for Douglas College in New Westminster. The fluid nature of student journalism meant he was soon running the place, learning on the fly how to publish a newspaper.

It wasn’t until he moved to Kelowna he broke into the mainstream media, working for Okanagan Sunday, then the Kelowna Daily Courier and Okanagan Saturday doing news graphics and page layout. He carried on with the Kelowna Capital News, covering health and education while also working on special projects, including the design and launch of a mass market daily newspaper. After 12 years there, John rejoined the Kelowna Daily Courier as editor of the Westside Weekly, directing news coverage as the Westside became West Kelowna.

But digital media beckoned and John joined Kelowna.com as assistant editor and reporter, riding the start-up as it at first soared then went down in flames. Now John is turning dirt as city hall reporter for iNFOnews.ca where he brings his long experience to bear on the civic issues of the day.

If you have a story you think people should know about, email John at jmcdonald@infonews.ca

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