By Ramone Tarnaski

While a new study in New Zealand has found that weed use is part of student culture and does not require too much regulation or sensitivity and is likely to change, it suggests that the introduction of cannabis laws is unlikely to have much impact on students. Researchers from the University of Otago wanted to examine the views and acceptance of students about the drug and to find out whether the fact that recreational weed is illegal in New Zealand, where it is illegal, had any impact on their use of marijuana.

Published in the substance abuse research and treatment, the results are intended to suggest that cannabis use has normalized in student culture. Robertson pointed out that the vast majority of students report that cannabis, despite its availability, is easy to acquire and available at typical social events. The fact that it is illegal seems to confirm this. Students report that some of their peers have already used cannabis and more than half (39 percent) said that peers have regularly used weed.

As cannabis laws work, 92.7 percent of students said they do not discourage students from participating. The press release says that students report that they forgot that recreational cannabis is illegal because they considered cannabis use legal and did not consider it a crime.

Given the views reported by the students, Robertson-Tustin suggests reassessing the law in the future. When students are caught on camera, the consequences are minimal and police tend to look the other way, the press release said. Students' perceptions are minimal when they are caught drinking because the police" look the other way, "says Dr. John Tostin, an associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Irvine, who is part of his university's Psychology Department.

Researchers hope that by showing that bans are ineffective, the findings can influence the next round of the US Supreme Court's decision on legalizing cannabis, which is now scheduled for 17 October. The study shows that cannabis use is generally considered "socially normal" by people who use it in moderation, while heavy users are judged negatively by how efficient, unreliable and unhealthy they are, and by how industrious and sociable they are. We find that informal controls influence cannabis - consumption through the creation of normalization thresholds, not through laws.