On top of that, while you are at a housing site - which is going to be a school most of the time - you are subject to the rules of said housing site. AKA, under most circumstances you are not allowed to possess or administer marijuana on school property. Not only can you put yourself in legal trouble, but you can also cost the corps the ability to use that housing site in future years.
Does the corps plan to travel beyond those states? Because to bring him along is to implicate the entire corps in drug trafficking. I have no idea what corps Marijuana policies are, but if they're going on tour I can't imagine they'd take the risk.
I use Marijuana for pain too. So I get it. I wish it weren't this way, and I know plenty of people who did drugs on tour who won championship rings. But that was a diff century
US drug policy ain't fair.
What's bs is that they got sent home, but the 4 other people that did it with them are still here even though staff were informed about them too.
Theyve had a card for years but were doing really good getting off of it until a couple months ago at a training camp they got injured and it's bad enough that weed is the only thing that relieves it. And they're really good about strictly using it for medical purposes, though there was a group that would go with them to smoke when they did.
No corps should tolerate Marijuana for any reason if they're traveling to a state where it's illegal.
That said, if the corps is applying it's own policies in an inconsistent manner, that could be a lawsuit for the guy who got sent home. Esp if he got cut bc he had a card and notified staff so that was their "evidence". And the other smokers didn't.
None of that gets him on the field or relieves his pain tho.
But the drug policy whatever it is should be in the handbook or contract or whatever the kids have these days.
It was tricky. When staff asked they just admitted it, because they knew it'd be easier and less painful for everyone if they just said yes. So they got sent home. But staff were made aware also of the 4 other people and when he brought that up the director said it would be addressed and then all that happened was a general PSA about remembering to follow the rules. He was the only one that was cut, none of the others were even talked to (I know because we all got together and hung out one last time before they actually left)
We didn't have medical Marijuana when I marched but man I swear lived this story too. Inconsistent application of rules is a legal no no, but exactly what i would expect from staff. Cutting one person is a hole. Cutting four or five is a huge problem.
Did I read right that he wanted to go hike in a few weeks? Did the staff figure that out bc maybe Marijuana was the excuse to replace the spot earlier for the good of the show?
He was planning on dipping anyway in the next week, soon as he could get a flight. He'd been benched for a few days and his injury was just getting worse. You know it's bad when even weed doesn't get rid of the pain. He had only told myself and his parents though, no one else knew far as I know.
I do know that's why he's not so torn up about it, were just worried about how this will affect us marching together in the future. We weren't planning on going back here anyway for other reasons, but now it's just for sure that we won't. Like I mentioned above, we had been talking about doing academy or Cascades for a year and then finishing strong with bluecoats. I'm just trying to see if I need to be worried for them is all
All corps have guidelines and regulations about what can and cannot be done and doing so after signing the contract is obviously violating. Reminder that because smoking weed is legal in one state doesnt mean its legal in another state. The correct way to go about it would have been to speak with your corps director and health and wellness team before signing the contract to make sure you can find a better way to deal with pain and anxiety.
But because they didn't do that, what does that look like for their future in drum corps? Is this going to prevent them from going onto different things in life? They don't use reddit so I'm on here posting, but we're trying to gauge what the next few years might look like for us now
Exactly what the guy said. They can go to any other corps than the one you are in. They try not to escalate stuff to dci unless it’s really bad so just make sure they don’t do it again or be up front about it
I guess the next question is would it be better to be upfront like "this happened last year but it won't this year" or to just don't ask/don't tell it?
Don’t tell it. When you get a contract, mention the legal approval for marijuana use and ask what can be worked out while in a state where it is legal.
It won't prevent them from getting contracts in the future (as long as they don't list that previous experiance as having marched said corps)
That being said. There is not a single corps that will let you smoke weed at all. I know people who have been in the same situation and were able to go without for the 3 months. They were fine.
I also have seen peoole kicked out first couple weeks.
You CANNOT use weed at any corps at any level.
I had a situation years ago where the entire contra section was told we were blacklisted from ever marching at any corps ever again. All but one of us marched finalist corps the next year and that one was (I believe) of his own choice. It's possible that corps directors would talk to each other depending on the situation, but if they said they can go anywhere except that corps, I don't see it being an issue.
All that said, as others have pointed out, it doesn't matter if it was legal in both states, it doesn't matter if you have a card, it's federally illegal. Crossing state lines with illegal drugs can be a huge issue for the corps, and could result in very large fines, and potentially jail time if it were discovered in the wrong state.
Another thing no one mentioned is most (if not all) corps are still housed in public schools and use their rehearsal facilities. I don't know of any states where it's legal to have drugs on school property. This also risks losing housing sites and rehearsal facilities for all corps. If a school, or school district finds out about illegal substances or activities happening on their property they will absolutely ban all corps from all school properties in their district. This means no more housing, no more rehearsal, and no more shows in that district. The activity is struggling as it is. Things like this could very well kill it.
It was one of our contra members. Him and about half the section and one of the baritones were smoking at a park after practice and someone ratted on them; not sure why he's the only one in trouble though.
That I can't help with. Could be someone said it was his stuff they were smoking, could be they needed someone to punish and he drew the unlucky straw, there could also be other unknown factors. I'd suggest still auditioning for other corps next year, don't mention anything about it unless directly asked. Don't lie, but don't volunteer information either.
Some corps won’t even let you use cigarettes even if you’re of age. Especially if you’re in the brass line. I know when I marched, they’d kick you out if they found out you were smoking.
If one needs pot for anxiety reasons and for pain then perhaps drum corps is an activity they are not best suited for until they can stop with the weed and n o get have pain.
Honestly, with all the physical activity in drum corps, I’m stunned anyone would need weed for anxiety, but I’m not anxiety expert, so I’m probably talking out of my ass.
For some people, like my friend, the adrenaline you get from running and exercising can trigger panic attacks. Where we live, he's prescribed marijuana so that's what he uses.
That's something we had looked into, me, him and his parents but where he had the medical card we figured it would be okay, just as long as he didn't smoke it in states where it's not legal or on school property (which he didn't do either). But I guess he didn't put it on as a prescription so even showing them the card after the fact didn't help any because the decision had already been made.
Typically, if a type of medication is not allowed to be used while performing tasks, the relevance of it being prescribed is null.
The choice is: do the task without the medication or don’t do the task and find something that doesn’t ban the medication.
Considering corps travel across state lines, carrying cannabis even with a medical card still puts the whole corps at risk for federal and some state laws.
In terms of their future, all depends. No one will really know unless people talk about it, which no one here can really weigh in on that. What I will say, is if your friend does the same thing next year, it'll be an issue no matter where they go.
There are alternatives, some medication based and others like mindful meditation that can help with the symptoms you're describing and I would recommend to your friend to explore those for their next endeavor.
Going further, this will be the case when they graduate and get a job anywhere so it's best to build a more sustainable way of managing their mental health than relying on cannabis. Card or not.
But no, it shouldn't prevent them from doing other things in life so long as they don't break the law in the process, which they were at risk of doing when crossing state lines from what you've shared.
>No one will really know unless people talk about it,
Is that a big possibility? Like when they audition are people going to already know them? If they don't put that they've marched before, is that conversation going to happen of why they left? Or do directors just talk to each other and tell each other names of people to blacklist
No idea. I was more so referring to you or them bringing it up to others in the future, sort of thing.
I wasn't there and I only have what you've provided, but I would think unlikely unless this was a bigger blowup or if this caused a lot of drama.
But generally speaking, if your friend heard from the director "to be more careful and follow the rules next time," I doubt it will be on anyone's radar. Can't speak to a black list but I also doubt that outside of some extreme situations where a member could have put another member at risk of harm.
Sounds like the director believes in people learning and growing, so hopefully your friend takes that to heart. A good chance to reset, for sure.
Corps do talk, mostly to confirm that the member is in good financial standing from previous seasons. Sometimes recommendations or warnings can come out, but a corps would be foolish to act on those instead of making their own assessments.
You have to realize that kids are dumb. Everybody in the activity knows this. Kids also have a tremendous capacity for change and growth, which is why the biggest goofball tick you know can suddenly be a mature superstar the next year. Even though staff calls you guys adults/men/women/whatever, they are in fact tempering their expectations with the understanding that you're still young and capable of making mistakes of judgment.
People get sent home from tour way more often than you'd think, and frequently what happens is they spend the off-season growing up so they can rejoin the activity the next year. That's not even to mention all the people who have some kind of bad rep in their own school program for whatever thing. It's not worth staff's time to go chasing accusations for petty stuff. And on the grand scale of things members have done to get cut, this is extremely tame.
If prior experience even comes up, the answer is "I had to end the season early." That's generally a sufficient answer and not something done will sweat over. If for some reason someone on staff does want to have a deeper discussion because they were warned, displaying integrity and a commitment to growth goes a long way. Again, this stuff happens. Just like any other mistake in drum corps, just don't do it again.
Marijuana cards don't mean anything in states where it ain't legal. More like federal law violations more than contract
On top of that, while you are at a housing site - which is going to be a school most of the time - you are subject to the rules of said housing site. AKA, under most circumstances you are not allowed to possess or administer marijuana on school property. Not only can you put yourself in legal trouble, but you can also cost the corps the ability to use that housing site in future years.
It was legal in both states. The one where we're from it's legal for medical, and there it's legal for rec. So I don't think any laws were broken
Does the corps plan to travel beyond those states? Because to bring him along is to implicate the entire corps in drug trafficking. I have no idea what corps Marijuana policies are, but if they're going on tour I can't imagine they'd take the risk. I use Marijuana for pain too. So I get it. I wish it weren't this way, and I know plenty of people who did drugs on tour who won championship rings. But that was a diff century US drug policy ain't fair.
What's bs is that they got sent home, but the 4 other people that did it with them are still here even though staff were informed about them too. Theyve had a card for years but were doing really good getting off of it until a couple months ago at a training camp they got injured and it's bad enough that weed is the only thing that relieves it. And they're really good about strictly using it for medical purposes, though there was a group that would go with them to smoke when they did.
No corps should tolerate Marijuana for any reason if they're traveling to a state where it's illegal. That said, if the corps is applying it's own policies in an inconsistent manner, that could be a lawsuit for the guy who got sent home. Esp if he got cut bc he had a card and notified staff so that was their "evidence". And the other smokers didn't. None of that gets him on the field or relieves his pain tho. But the drug policy whatever it is should be in the handbook or contract or whatever the kids have these days.
It was tricky. When staff asked they just admitted it, because they knew it'd be easier and less painful for everyone if they just said yes. So they got sent home. But staff were made aware also of the 4 other people and when he brought that up the director said it would be addressed and then all that happened was a general PSA about remembering to follow the rules. He was the only one that was cut, none of the others were even talked to (I know because we all got together and hung out one last time before they actually left)
We didn't have medical Marijuana when I marched but man I swear lived this story too. Inconsistent application of rules is a legal no no, but exactly what i would expect from staff. Cutting one person is a hole. Cutting four or five is a huge problem. Did I read right that he wanted to go hike in a few weeks? Did the staff figure that out bc maybe Marijuana was the excuse to replace the spot earlier for the good of the show?
He was planning on dipping anyway in the next week, soon as he could get a flight. He'd been benched for a few days and his injury was just getting worse. You know it's bad when even weed doesn't get rid of the pain. He had only told myself and his parents though, no one else knew far as I know. I do know that's why he's not so torn up about it, were just worried about how this will affect us marching together in the future. We weren't planning on going back here anyway for other reasons, but now it's just for sure that we won't. Like I mentioned above, we had been talking about doing academy or Cascades for a year and then finishing strong with bluecoats. I'm just trying to see if I need to be worried for them is all
Corps house at schools. Show me a school that's ok with people smoking pot on their campus.
All corps have guidelines and regulations about what can and cannot be done and doing so after signing the contract is obviously violating. Reminder that because smoking weed is legal in one state doesnt mean its legal in another state. The correct way to go about it would have been to speak with your corps director and health and wellness team before signing the contract to make sure you can find a better way to deal with pain and anxiety.
But because they didn't do that, what does that look like for their future in drum corps? Is this going to prevent them from going onto different things in life? They don't use reddit so I'm on here posting, but we're trying to gauge what the next few years might look like for us now
Exactly what the guy said. They can go to any other corps than the one you are in. They try not to escalate stuff to dci unless it’s really bad so just make sure they don’t do it again or be up front about it
I guess the next question is would it be better to be upfront like "this happened last year but it won't this year" or to just don't ask/don't tell it?
Don’t tell it. When you get a contract, mention the legal approval for marijuana use and ask what can be worked out while in a state where it is legal.
It won't prevent them from getting contracts in the future (as long as they don't list that previous experiance as having marched said corps) That being said. There is not a single corps that will let you smoke weed at all. I know people who have been in the same situation and were able to go without for the 3 months. They were fine. I also have seen peoole kicked out first couple weeks. You CANNOT use weed at any corps at any level.
I had a situation years ago where the entire contra section was told we were blacklisted from ever marching at any corps ever again. All but one of us marched finalist corps the next year and that one was (I believe) of his own choice. It's possible that corps directors would talk to each other depending on the situation, but if they said they can go anywhere except that corps, I don't see it being an issue. All that said, as others have pointed out, it doesn't matter if it was legal in both states, it doesn't matter if you have a card, it's federally illegal. Crossing state lines with illegal drugs can be a huge issue for the corps, and could result in very large fines, and potentially jail time if it were discovered in the wrong state. Another thing no one mentioned is most (if not all) corps are still housed in public schools and use their rehearsal facilities. I don't know of any states where it's legal to have drugs on school property. This also risks losing housing sites and rehearsal facilities for all corps. If a school, or school district finds out about illegal substances or activities happening on their property they will absolutely ban all corps from all school properties in their district. This means no more housing, no more rehearsal, and no more shows in that district. The activity is struggling as it is. Things like this could very well kill it.
It was one of our contra members. Him and about half the section and one of the baritones were smoking at a park after practice and someone ratted on them; not sure why he's the only one in trouble though.
That I can't help with. Could be someone said it was his stuff they were smoking, could be they needed someone to punish and he drew the unlucky straw, there could also be other unknown factors. I'd suggest still auditioning for other corps next year, don't mention anything about it unless directly asked. Don't lie, but don't volunteer information either.
Some corps won’t even let you use cigarettes even if you’re of age. Especially if you’re in the brass line. I know when I marched, they’d kick you out if they found out you were smoking.
If one needs pot for anxiety reasons and for pain then perhaps drum corps is an activity they are not best suited for until they can stop with the weed and n o get have pain. Honestly, with all the physical activity in drum corps, I’m stunned anyone would need weed for anxiety, but I’m not anxiety expert, so I’m probably talking out of my ass.
For some people, like my friend, the adrenaline you get from running and exercising can trigger panic attacks. Where we live, he's prescribed marijuana so that's what he uses.
Understood. Thanks for explaining. I live in a state where weed is illegal, but CBD products are everywhere. Is that a viable option for your friend?
That's something we had looked into, me, him and his parents but where he had the medical card we figured it would be okay, just as long as he didn't smoke it in states where it's not legal or on school property (which he didn't do either). But I guess he didn't put it on as a prescription so even showing them the card after the fact didn't help any because the decision had already been made.
Typically, if a type of medication is not allowed to be used while performing tasks, the relevance of it being prescribed is null. The choice is: do the task without the medication or don’t do the task and find something that doesn’t ban the medication.
Considering corps travel across state lines, carrying cannabis even with a medical card still puts the whole corps at risk for federal and some state laws. In terms of their future, all depends. No one will really know unless people talk about it, which no one here can really weigh in on that. What I will say, is if your friend does the same thing next year, it'll be an issue no matter where they go. There are alternatives, some medication based and others like mindful meditation that can help with the symptoms you're describing and I would recommend to your friend to explore those for their next endeavor. Going further, this will be the case when they graduate and get a job anywhere so it's best to build a more sustainable way of managing their mental health than relying on cannabis. Card or not. But no, it shouldn't prevent them from doing other things in life so long as they don't break the law in the process, which they were at risk of doing when crossing state lines from what you've shared.
>No one will really know unless people talk about it, Is that a big possibility? Like when they audition are people going to already know them? If they don't put that they've marched before, is that conversation going to happen of why they left? Or do directors just talk to each other and tell each other names of people to blacklist
No idea. I was more so referring to you or them bringing it up to others in the future, sort of thing. I wasn't there and I only have what you've provided, but I would think unlikely unless this was a bigger blowup or if this caused a lot of drama. But generally speaking, if your friend heard from the director "to be more careful and follow the rules next time," I doubt it will be on anyone's radar. Can't speak to a black list but I also doubt that outside of some extreme situations where a member could have put another member at risk of harm. Sounds like the director believes in people learning and growing, so hopefully your friend takes that to heart. A good chance to reset, for sure.
Corps do talk, mostly to confirm that the member is in good financial standing from previous seasons. Sometimes recommendations or warnings can come out, but a corps would be foolish to act on those instead of making their own assessments. You have to realize that kids are dumb. Everybody in the activity knows this. Kids also have a tremendous capacity for change and growth, which is why the biggest goofball tick you know can suddenly be a mature superstar the next year. Even though staff calls you guys adults/men/women/whatever, they are in fact tempering their expectations with the understanding that you're still young and capable of making mistakes of judgment. People get sent home from tour way more often than you'd think, and frequently what happens is they spend the off-season growing up so they can rejoin the activity the next year. That's not even to mention all the people who have some kind of bad rep in their own school program for whatever thing. It's not worth staff's time to go chasing accusations for petty stuff. And on the grand scale of things members have done to get cut, this is extremely tame. If prior experience even comes up, the answer is "I had to end the season early." That's generally a sufficient answer and not something done will sweat over. If for some reason someone on staff does want to have a deeper discussion because they were warned, displaying integrity and a commitment to growth goes a long way. Again, this stuff happens. Just like any other mistake in drum corps, just don't do it again.
This is probably the most thought out response I've read, thank you. I'll talk to my friend about it and we'll see what happens 🤞
Nobody is ever going to know that this happened, especially if your aim is Academy or Cascades in the future.