In a recent survey of 100 Morton East students, they were asked if they believed marijuana was beneficial for students during school. Approximately 73 people believed that it was not beneficial for students during class, and 20 of those 100 said they didn’t know.

In a recent interview with Mr. Gamboa, he was asked numerous questions on this topic for both students and teachers. We asked Mr. Gamboa, “If students were prescribed marijuana for medical reasons, would they be able to take it during school hours?”

“No, students would not be able to take medication during school. Some medications have side effects that make it difficult for a student to be successful, and it’s not something we’re looking for from students,” said Mr. Gamboa.

This was something we were not aware of, and now that some people can be prescribed marijuana for medical reasons and there are many dispensaries around, some would wonder if teachers have restrictions.  “Do teachers have any restrictions on the usage of legal marijuana?” was asked to Mr. Gamboa.

“Having alcohol and marijuana here in the area is a controlled substance, and nobody can be under the influence for any reason,” Mr. Gamboa said.

Most people already knew that having any sort of substance is not allowed in the building for any reason. Does this include for teachers outside the building?   We asked Mr. Gamboa one last question.  “If teachers are caught using any form of marijuana outside of school, does that affect their career?”

“There are just so many different circumstances that come across, like teachers drinking at a bar. If I see a video of a teacher smoking and drinking while driving, that’s breaking the law, but anything outside of that is their personal business,” Mr. Gamboa said.

This interview with Mr. Gamboa gives us a clear view of the expectations of the Morton East principal for both students and teachers. We also had a small conversation about addiction with Mr. Gamboa.

“If you can’t wait until you get home and you have to vape at 9 in the morning, that’s a different story within itself and there’s many resources to help,” Mr. Gamboa said.

He told us about many programs outside of school that work with Morton East which guided us to Ms. Melendez, one of our Counselors. She gave us a list of resources with all their information that we would like to share.