BUFFALO, N.Y. — This will be the first school year ever that recreational adult use of marijuana is legal in New York, and dispensaries are open and selling it in Western New York. 2 On Your Side wanted to know how schools are making policies to deal with it if students are caught using it, or if teachers want to use cannabis themselves.
The rule in all school districts in Western New York and across the state is this: Just because it's legal and accessible doesn't mean it's acceptable to have cannabis on school grounds, or be under the influence of it.
In most cases, it will be treated like any illegal drug or cigarettes or alcohol.
Mike Cornell, who is the superintendent of the Hamburg school district and also serves as the president of the Erie-Niagara School Superintendents Association says if a student is caught using it, the student will likely be disciplined, but the school will go a step further to find out "why" they're using.
"It's not just, 'OK, you got the consequence, you got suspended and we move on.' We're going to ask a whole lot more questions and there's a lot more people involved. The social worker, psychologist, school counselor, a lot more conversations with families to see what's going on because we want to make sure we help," said Cornell.
Parents are also urged to not leave edibles anywhere that kids can get their hands on them. Some gummies look just like candy and there have been some isolated incidents in Western New York in which elementary school kids have brought those gummies to school.
RELATED VIDEO: