The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents today revised the Universitys Tobacco Use policy to prohibit the use of medical marijuana products and working under the influence of medical marijuana on all University owned, leased or occupied facilities and properties, in University vehicles and at events on University properties.

The revision also updates the policy to permit University-designated and approved academic research projects on hemp — marijuana containing less than 0.3 percent of the THC compound — within parameters governed by Missouri Statutes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and city ordinances.

The policy change follows a ballot measure, Amendment 2, approved by Missouri voters last fall adding an article to the Missouri Constitution legalizing medical use of marijuana for qualifying patients who have approval from a physician, said Kathy Mangels, vice president for finance and administration. While approved in Missouri, Amendment 2 does not change federal law which continues to illegalize marijuana even for medicinal reasons, she said. Missouri employers are not required to accommodate medical marijuana use in the workplace under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), she said.

In June, qualifying patients and caregivers could begin electronically submitting applications to use medical marijuana to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services during a defined application period. On July 15, the city of Cape Girardeau passed an ordinance requiring medical marijuana dispensaries to be built 500 feet from schools and other locations in the city limits. The University falls under this definition, Mangels said.