To weed out the stress of everyday life, some students turn to cannabis to take the edge off. However, they often face harsh criticism and are sometimes held to a double standard compared to those who choose to indulge in alcohol.
Byron*, Sci ’26, owns his love for cannabis, but ever since attending Queen’s, he’s become more reserved with his recreational use. As a first year in Victoria Hall, Byron was heckled by other students for smoking a t, while those around him pounded back beers. Other students complained about the smell of weed coming from his dorm, but nobody seemed to bat an eye when common rooms and hallways smelled of booze and vomit.
“Anything you do in life has an impact on social pressure—however, people who are drunk are much more likely to push others to drink than those who are on cannabis because of the acceptance of drinking as a social activity,” Natasha Manuel, ArtSci ’25, said in an interview with The Journal.
With curtains closing on Homecoming, FOCO, and Halloweekend, many students are still finding themselves recovering from days of binge drinking. With Queen’s being one of Canada’s top “party universities,” drinking culture has become alarmingly normalized for many students. In the booze craze, some students find themselves being judged for their cannabis use.
On Oct. 17, 2018, Canada was the second country in the world to legalize cannabis, implementing the Cannabis Act or Bill C-45. The legalization of cannabis has demonstrated a nation-wide, liberal shift away from drug-use stigmas, and students believe university culture should reflect this.
“We know Canadian youth are some of the heaviest cannabis s in the documented Western world. We know cannabis consumption and its availability is ubiquitous, it’s everywhere,” Dr. Oyedeji Ayonrinde, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and senior associate researcher at Providence Care said in an interview with The Journal.
Since the legalization of cannabis in Canada, use of cannabis by youth has increased, with 51 per cent of youth aged 20 to 24 reporting to have used cannabis at least once within the past year. This contrasts statistics surrounding alcohol consumption, where Canadian youth on average begin drinking at age 13, and in 2019, 78 per cent of Canadians reported drinking alcohol in the past year.
Dr. Ayonrinde examines how substance abuse creates a “perfect storm” for many post-secondary students, whose neurodevelopmental vulnerability to addiction coincides with their age and easy access to addictive substances.
Many young adults develop mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, increasing their risk of relying on substances for self-medication, reports Dr. Sarevenaz Esmaeelzadeh, psychiatry chief resident at the University of Saskatchewan, in a National Library of Medicine article. As students gain independence in today’s campus environment, unmonitored drug use often goes unnoticed and becomes normalized, Dr. Esmaeelzadeh finds.
The socialization aspect of engaging with alcohol and cannabis points out a long-established social etiquette associated with alcohol intake , Dr. Ayonrinde noted. “Because of cannabis’s discreet consumption, this has an untrained etiquette of how to consume it. When cannabis is consumed secretly or in hidden ways, people aren’t observing and learning how to use cannabis properly—it’s a gradual process,” he added.
Working towards his goal of increasing awareness of cannabis use, Dr. Ayonrinde has designed various cannabis games including a board game called “Weed-Ed” and a hockey game coined “Pot Puck,” intended for family and educational play to encourage game-based learning and teaching about cannabis in entertaining and engaging fashion.
The Journal spoke with several students about their experiences as cannabis s, rolling up the academic disapproval they face from peers and parents, and examining the on-campus resources available to them.
Academic disapproval
In their first year at Queen’s, Logan*, ArtSci ’26, re how isolated she felt encountering stigmas of laziness stemming from cannabis use, pressuring her towards drinking as an outlet to unwind. Logan’s initial impressions of student culture made her more hesitant to engage in cannabis use publicly. She recalls awkward instances were students would be hanging out at the pier drinking and she would feel outed for smoking, unless she had a large group of friends with her to diffuse the tension or judgment.
Logan isn’t the only student feeling isolated due to recreational cannabis use. Byron also finds himself with similar experiences, noticing that his former roommate stopped smoking because of the prejudices that exist within the Smith School of Business.
“I feel like smoking weed is associated with poor academic performance. At the Smith School of Business, people view smokers as less capable or less serious about academic concerns. Weed is less of a social thing in commerce and people don’t openly talk about it,” Hannah*, Comm ’26, said in an interview with The Journal.
The negative connotation associated with recreational cannabis use floods Goodes Hall. He feels stigmas are deeply rooted in academic judgment. Meanwhile, the “commies” are encouraged to pound back drinks with professors, Byron said.
Byron suggests the differing attitudes toward drinking and cannabis may stem from their social effects. Drinking is often seen as a sociable activity that enhances outgoing behaviour and fosters networking, while cannabis tends to encourage introspection and promote introverted tendencies.
“There’s a stigma that labels stoners on campus as outsiders—which is true due to the lack of normalization around cannabis consumption at Queen’s, it’s true because it isn’t the normal,” Byron said. “Most students drink at Queen’s more than [they] smoke.”
The lack of students outwardly promoting the normalized experiences of safe-recreational cannabis consumption are starting to cost students feelings of unwantedness in social settings.
“I used to bring my bong outside, and that was seen as very intense. Maybe if it were a t, I would’ve gotten less weird looks,” Jessica*, ArtSci ’26, said in an interview with The Journal.
Vaping and smoking is prohibited on all University properties which provides one causal reasoning for the odd looks and glances towards student stoners. However, Jessica finds it’s rare that the student body would attempt to reinforce campus policies surrounding alcohol consumption.
“[Queen’s] is very focused on student’s drinking habits which creates even more of a social divide between students when someone chooses to recreationally use cannabis,” Jessica said. “People do smoke at Queen’s, we’re university students, but there seems to be a lot more shame surrounding the act—when people smoke it’s a lot more private.”
For students like Byron, Jessica, and Logan, they prefer to use cannabis over alcohol due to their more introverted tendencies and a desire to slow down, rather than be amped up by situations that involve alcohol.
Both Byron and Jessica enjoy drinking but find it hard to be in the over stimulating environments caused by consuming alcohol. They would prefer to use cannabis and enjoy calmer spaces with friends.
“I feel out of place not drinking alcohol when students going out to bars, because I find it much more difficult to match the energy of those around me, but alcohol makes me feel very ill,” Logan said. “Students feel that heavy drinkers are offered more freedom and leeway than those who are stoners.”
Parental disapproval
“If people grew up in a generation where cannabis was criminalized, they might carry beliefs that cannabis is bad without looking at the science behind it,” Manuel said.
Students feel that their own parents represent generational discrepancies in stigma surrounding recreational cannabis usage. Jessica, Logan, and Byron all similarly it they’d be more likely to call their parents if they were drunk and needed help but would be a lot less likely to call their parents if they were “greening out”—the cannabis equivalent of being too drunk.
“Cannabis often can be lumped in with much more serious, dangerous, and addictive drugs,” Manuel said.
Cultural factors contribute to the variances in opinions surrounding cannabis as well. Byron discusses how his mother would likely supply alcohol if he asked, but being an Eastern European immigrant, she’s very unfamiliar ith cannabis, and it’s much more taboo.
“I feel internal shame in overusing cannabis, and it stems from my parents lack of approval,” Jessica said.
Jessica labels her parents as more traditional, especially her father, stating they’re both very “anti-cannabis,” all because they’ve had no experience with cannabis due to their own ideas surrounding recreational use.
“The only time I feel judgment towards myself and think I shouldn’t be doing this is because my parents don’t want me to. But, at the same time, I’m the first generation here where weed has been legalized. I’m living a completely different life than my parents have lived,” Jessica said.
Dr. Ayonrinde highlights serious concerns about the stigma surrounding cannabis use, emphasizing that such stigma is harmful and can deter individuals from seeking help.
“One of the most harmful impacts of any substance-related stigma is that it affects people seeking help. The moment you stigmatize a practice, people become embarrassed, there’s a sense of shame, and people are less inclined to seek help,” Dr. Ayonrinde said. “There is an immense importance of interventions that reduce isolation, build resilience and promote solving when dealing with distress to reduce the urge to self-medicate with cannabis.”
Byron, Logan, and Jessica all find cannabis to be a helpful tool to escape from the stress and responsibility of life. Many students who use cannabis frequently work part-time jobs outside of school, maintain good grades, and exist outside of stoner stereotypes like “lazy” or “slow.”
Departing words of wisdom, Byron found the opportunity to speak on his own cannabis use as the first time he was able to audibly reflect on these thoughts and processes his lived experiences.
*Names changed due to safety concerns.
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