Seton Hall Students React to the Legalization of Marijuana

Seton Hall students were on a high after New Jersey’s legalization of recreational marijuana, until they realized being under 21 stopped them before even stepping into any dispensaries.

Many students believed the legalization last Thursday was a step in the right direction, but some felt that the age limit was too high for their liking.

Ally Sheppard, a freshman diplomacy and international relations major, said she believed the age for recreational marijuana use should be lowered to 18.

“I think that 21 is the age restriction similar to alcohol because people are afraid of how it may impact brain development,” Sheppard said. “However, I have always believed that if citizens can be in the army at 18 years old and be considered legal adults, then they should be able to make their own choice to consume alcohol, and now marijuana.”

Trevor Conroy, a freshman diplomacy major, said he felt other students who called for the age to be lowered forgot about the effects marijuana might have.

“It is like a mind-altering substance,” Conroy said. “So, I’d say that 21 is a good age.”

Sonia Kwiatkowski, a sophomore biology and Spanish major, also expressed her belief that 21 should be the legal age for recreational use. “I think it’s pretty fair since it’s the same as alcohol,” Kwiatkowski said.

Theresa Wang, a junior nursing major, explained that she believed 21 was just a starting point.

“If they do see people of younger ages overdosing when they’re buying off the street and not from a trusted dispensary, then I think they should change it,” Wang said. “If you’re buying it from someone off the street, you don’t know what’s in it.”

Wang said as a nursing student learning about the effects of drugs, such as marijuana, made her more aware about the dangers presented to younger users who buy from dealers.

“Coming from a healthcare perspective, there are high rates of overdoses in terms of lacing marijuana with fentanyl,” she said. “It is a very strong opioid. Even dealers themselves may not know what they got has fentanyl in it or is laced with anything else.”

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, fentanyl is a “synthetic opioid that is 80-100 times stronger than morphine.”

Wang mentioned that research was still being done on the topic though, especially when it came to learning it in the classroom. “Typically, everything in the healthcare system takes a lot of time,” she said. “We go off of evidence-based practice that could take having years of studies to prove something.”

Sakina Nathoo, a senior elementary special education and social and behavioral sciences major, said she believed legalizing marijuana would lead to more necessary research.

“If it’s illegal, how are you going to get participants,” Nathoo said. “There’s so much to know about weed that we don’t know because we haven’t done the research because it was illegal. Legalizing it is getting rid of an obstacle.”

Ellaf Asher, a freshman finance major, said that despite the age limit, she believed people under 21 would still be actively using marijuana.

“It’s the same thing we see with alcohol,” Asher said. “There are still other ways to get it, you don’t have to go to a dispensary to buy it. Someone else can buy it for you and then sell it to you. I don't know if that's legal, but it’s common.”

Nathoo shared similar beliefs, as she said people were already smoking marijuana prior to any legalization being passed.

“Regardless, there’s going to be people who smoke it,” Nathoo said. “If you legalize it though, at least they’ll be more mindful of how they’re getting it.”