Liberty High is on the front lines of a battle to keep weed out of American high schools. It’s an uphill one. California legalized medical marijuana in 1996, the first state in the country to do so. Recreational cannabis has been legal in the state since 2016, with retail sales beginning in 2018, when Liberty High’s current seniors were still in elementary school. Now, 24 states plus Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana for recreational use.
While the legal age to buy recreational marijuana is 21 in California (It’s 18 for medical marijuana), students said it is relatively easy to get from older siblings, friends and acquaintances. Dispensaries often offer delivery, requiring adults to show valid ID.
Legalization has shifted how cannabis is perceived, from a way for stoners to get high to a mainstream health and wellness tool. Cannabis companies now market their wares as treatments for anxiety, pain and sleep problems. Edibles in cute packaging and THC vapes in flavors like “strawberry cough” and “Zkittles” (a play on the candy) can make marijuana seem safe, stylish and fun.
Weed is “seen as organic. It’s all-natural,” said Will Trimua, a 17-year-old Liberty High senior, about many of his peers’ views. And unlike nicotine, doctors sometimes recommend it, “so why should it be bad then?” added Trimua, who says he doesn’t partake.