Although Maryland legalized the recreational use of marijuana on July 1, AACC does not allow it on campus.
AACC is a smoke-free campus, which means the college has banned tobacco products, including cigarettes and vapes, and any form of marijuana, even medical and gummies.
“It’s not cohesive with the learning environment and the student code of conduct,” AACC Police Lt. Joe Donato said.
The college allows vaping and cigarette smoking in private cars on campus, but that does not include marijuana use, which could trigger a $50 civil citation and a student code of conduct violation, according to Police Chief Sean Kapfhammer.
Maryland legalized medical marijuana in 2014, but the college does not allow it on campus.
Donato said marijuana use could lead a student to disrupt a class or bother others, which could trigger a student conduct code violation.
The lieutenant said the police have gotten complaints about the overwhelming odor of marijuana on students.
Donato said police have not had to investigate incidents on campus recently, which he attributed to a smaller in-person student body since the pandemic.
“Pre-COVID, it wasn’t common, but there were anomalies,” Donato said. “It would pop up, mostly in vehicles here and there, which is dangerous.”
Second-year transfer studies student Megan Cunningham said she has witnessed students smoking weed on campus.
“I see it all the time,” Cunningham said.
Some students said they were unaware that cannabis is not allowed on campus.
Henry Banks, who took summer classes at AACC, said he was unaware that students could face repercussions for bringing marijuana on campus.
Banks said the school should “persuade people” and “advertise not to use it.”
Cunningham said the school should “put up more signs” to make sure students know that AACC is a smoke-free campus.
The signs on campus say AACC is a smoke-free campus but do not mention marijuana use.
“Now that marijuana doesn’t have [the] stigma [of being illegal], maybe the signs need to be updated,” Donato said.