going there , they want to unwind after classes … The fact that we ’ re denying students access to their medicine . I believe that is probably frustrating , probably feels very unfair … when it could have been so much easier if they were allowed access to their medicine as any normal person should be … Whether it ’ s medical marijuana or pills like Zoloft , that is that person ’ s medicine , and they should have access to it .”
EXP . 05 / 01 / 23 ( ev )
Another UMKC student who chose to interview anonymously said that while he also uses medical marijuana off-campus and after classes conclude , he prefers coming to class after medicating , citing anxiety that has been bad enough to keep him from going to class .
A former resident assistant at UMKC also mentioned that while she was an RA , she knew several people who lived in the dorms and used medical marijuana . She said that while some of the RAs didn ’ t seem to care or police it as long as it wasn ’ t being used on campus in a way that other students could be impacted by , this would lead to patients being forced to either get off of campus and go somewhere they deemed safe — or would smoke in their cars or drive around and smoke ( which is not a good idea or legal ).
“ As you know , when you drive a car under the influence of marijuana , regardless of whether it ’ s medicinal or not , you can still be subject to penalties ,” the former UMKC student-employee said . “ So , that always made me nervous , that maybe students were putting themselves in unsafe situations or in situations where they would be in risk of getting in more trouble when I think that they should have been able to safely use it on campus — especially if it ’ s medicinal .”
Don ’ t expect to see many , perhaps even any , changes to the rules and laws being enforced on Missouri ’ s college campuses until the federal government eventually removes marijuana as a Schedule I substance .
The winds of change have been blowing for a few years now , and the metaphorical grass is definitely greener on the other side for any Missouri resident wanting to use recreational or medicinal marijuana . But for the current and future crops of college students hoping to take their medical marijuana in the same room they take their medical opioids , it appears the winds of change are no more than a slight breeze .
Author ’ s note : Additional reporting by Bre Blankenship of the UMKC Roo News . Bre , my co-author for this story , did amazing and important background work to help me complete this story .
Do you know anybody working in the cannabis industry who took a unique or fascinating path to get there ? Reach out to Rocco at rscarcello @ elevatemissouri . com , or Bill . C @ TheEvolutionMag . com .
Rocco Scarcello is a production floater for Elevate Missouri . He is a former college baseball player , graduating from Missouri Valley College in 2017 before getting into newspaper and radio news / sports broadcasting in north central Missouri , youth baseball tournament coordination in Kansas City , and eventually into the medical marijuana field . He is also a studio artist currently releasing music and working on his first album .
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