Lethbridge College released its policy on cannabis consumption and possession on campus last week, just under a month ahead of the upcoming Oct. 17 legalization date.

Inevitably, comparisons were drawn to the post-secondary neighbour across the coulee, the University of Lethbridge.

The college took a black-and-white stance on cannabis use, stating that the use of cannabis, including smoking, vaping or ingesting, is not allowed on campus and there will not be designated smoking zones.

The college also noted that cannabis consumption will be prohibited in and around residence buildings.

“We don’t want it on campus right now due to the health and safety reasons,” says Frank Zappone, Occupational Health and Safety Team lead at the college. “We may have to adjust our policy down the line, but for now we are going to keep it as it already is – and that is not having it on campus”.

This comes just a matter of days after the university released its own policy, which stated that it would allow limited use of cannabis on campus in five designated smoking zones.

The University of Lethbridge is one of only a handful of post-secondary institutions in Alberta that will allow cannabis consumption on its grounds.

“When writing our policy, we recognized that we have a lot of residents… that we are bordered by a coulee with long grass and that enforcement could be a challenge,” explains Mark Slomp, Executive Director of Student Services at the university. “For our particular context, the policy we came up with made sense.”

So, why is there such a difference in the two institutions’ approaches towards cannabis?

The answer is that the type of instruction that takes place at the college differs from the instruction at the university and the schools must approach cannabis use differently.

“The trick with policy writing is that it has to be specific to your situation and has to fit the various elements and characteristics of your environment,” Slomp says.

Allowing the use of cannabis on Lethbridge College’s grounds means students in trades such as welding or culinary could put themselves in harm’s way when working under the influence.

“Our priority was to maintain a safe and healthy environment [at Lethbridge College],” states Zappone. “We’re not trying to do anything anti-this or anti-that, we’re just looking at the wellness of everyone here.”

The University of Lethbridge’s policy states that there are still strict expectations for students to be “Fit to Learn” and “Fit to Work.”

“We have other policies on campus that help us deal with those type of issues should they arise,” Slomp says.

Zappone added that the feedback for the Health and Safety department they have received has been very positive and Slomp said the same about the reaction from university faculty and students.

The next challenge for both institutions will be upholding and enforcing regulations when legalization comes into effect in just under two weeks.