CREDIT: ANGELA MCINNES
Not much will change with Fanshawe College's existing policies surrounding cannabis after the Ontario Cannabis Store started selling edibles (like the mints seen here) and topical creams.

A new year means new legal cannabis products, but it won’t change Fanshawe College’s existing smoke-free policy. However, breaking any rules surrounding cannabis on-campus could lead to consequences.

The Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) brought in new products like edibles, extracts, topicals and vapes to their stock. Their website said edibles like beverages, baked goods, and candy are absorbed through digestion are smoke-free alternatives to consuming cannabis. Effects kick in at a later time than through smoking or vaping and it could take between two to four hours for the full effects to kick in and 12 hours for the intense effects to subside.

Peter Gilbert, Fanshawe’s chief infrastructure officer for facilities and IT services, said in an email interview with Interrobang that since the smoke-free campus policy was implemented in late 2018, the new products will not change it.


“The Fanshawe smoking policy was changed in 2018 to address two things,” he explained. “The College’s move to a smoke-free campus and to remove cannabis restrictions that became unnecessary with the legalization of its use.”

The smoke-free policy bans smoking or vaping any form of tobacco or cannabis on Fanshawe property. Medical marijuana and Indigenous ceremonial smoking are exempted from the ban.

“Edibles, being legal, would be allowed but not encouraged,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert added students found impaired by any substance could be asked to leave class, banned from using lab equipment and/or be removed from campus until the effects wear off.

“Missing classes and labs can have a negative impact on learning and learning outcomes.”

The College’s alcohol, drugs, and tobacco products policy, Policy C206, outlines several related violations and fines. A member of the College community could face a $300 fine for using, providing, or possessing drugs where prohibited. The production, sale, and traffic of drugs where prohibited could also cost someone $500.

Anyone smoking cannabis, e-cigarettes, or tobacco on College property could be fined $50 for the first occurrence, $100 for the second occurrence, and then $200 for the third and any other occurrence. Smoking in College buildings can result in a $315 fine.

Fanshawe’s student code of conduct also considers smoking in prohibited areas and entering the campus or a College activity while under the influence as prohibited conduct.

“Fanshawe students were very wise about the use of cannabis products when they first became legal in 2018,” Gilbert said. “We know they will exercise similar wisdom as these new products become available.”

More information about Fanshawe’s smoke-free policy and its related policies can be found on www.fanshawec.ca/about-fanshawe/corporate-info/smoke-free-fanshawe.