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Over the past decade, 24 states, two territories and the District of Columbia have all legalized marijuana for recreational use. While voters celebrated this expansive legalization, easy access to marijuana products is a growing problem for young students nationwide, and this problem is further exacerbated by the proximity between marijuana dispensaries and schools. Ann Arbor City Council needs to increase the distance between dispensaries and schools to foster a healthier learning environment.
When surveying underage students, researchers from the University of Michigan found that 95% reported having easy access to smoking marijuana, and nearly 87% claimed to have easy access to edibles.
Unfortunately, proximity between marijuana businesses and schools causes this accessibility. In a separate study, researchers from the University of Washington concluded that 11th graders who lived within one mile of a dispensary were more likely to smoke marijuana or use edibles. These researchers found that the correlation between proximity and increased usage is due to how environments shape behavioral norms. Students no longer need to travel long distances to be exposed to dispensary advertisements, which has reduced the social stigmas that would normally discourage underage usage.
Often, dispensaries near schools contain products appealing to children. Their tactics include packaging edibles like sour candy or selling products with fruit flavors labeled “mad mango” or “peach dream.” Advertisements featuring marijuana in a bright and colorful burst of cherries were another tactic used to attract youth.
These effective strategies have caused sharp increases in marijuana usage among youth nationwide. Between 2021 and 2024, the percentage of eighth graders using flavored marijuana products increased from 47% to 63%.
Proximity normalizes student interactions with dispensaries, and this problem is worsened when dispensaries are intentionally tempting youth toward their businesses. As students interact with dispensaries and their advertisements during their everyday academic lives, they become desensitized to the dangers of the products, specifically the risk of permanent damage to brain development. In fact, students were reported to perceive cannabis products as less risky when they were within one mile of their school.
While restrictions could regulate dispensaries’ advertising, it’s more important for students to become educated on intentionally appealing strategies used to attract them. Parents, in particular, should become involved early in their child’s life to inform them about the dangers of underage marijuana consumption.
Accessibility also harms the academic environment. The proximity of marijuana businesses to schools correlated to a reduction in the proportion of students achieving in all academic subjects. Further, researchers in Northern California observed that a shorter distance between marijuana dispensaries and schools was associated to greater levels of psychotic, anxiety and depressive disorders among students, which further inhibited their academic performance.
In Ann Arbor, Ordinance 25-29 dictates the minimum distance between dispensaries and schools. Previously, there was a 1,000-foot minimum; however, on Nov. 17, the City Council voted unanimously to eliminate this minimum, amending the minimum to be 100 feet instead. This amendment conveniently allows two established dispensaries to continue business despite being within 1,000 feet of two preschools: Doughty Montessori School and The U School.
This proximity reduction signals a greater trend of loosening restrictions on Ann Arbor dispensaries for their convenience. In fact, the City Council has recently been considering completely removing the cap on the number of marijuana retailers in the city to encourage the arrival of more dispensaries. The removal of this cap, along with this amended ordinance, is indicative of a future in which there are numerous dispensaries with no limit on their proximity to schools.
Public officials claim that because dispensaries in Ann Arbor have been operating within the 1,000-foot limit, these changes won’t cause any problems. Yet, even though dispensaries and schools have been operating in proximity without major problems, there is a risk of students being negatively impacted that cannot be ignored.
Students within one mile of dispensaries are both desensitized and more likely to use cannabis products, indicating that instead of amending this ordinance to reduce proximity, the City Council should consider a one-mile minimum distance between the two establishments. This buffer would address the risks of targeted dispensary advertisements on youth and prevent youth from being within easy walking distance of businesses.
In response to greater restrictions on proximity, some may claim that students will always have access to marijuana, whether due to dispensaries attempting to attract youth or from second-hand sources. However, even though there will always be feasible alternatives for access, a minimum distance mandate will still be an actionable step toward mitigating the problem. This mandate would reduce desensitization of the dangers of the product among students and force them to take more costly efforts if attempting to gain access.
As students, we understand the value of a safe learning environment. The recent amendment to the ordinance signals how the City Council is prioritizing the convenience of marijuana businesses over the safety of the Ann Arbor community. The difference between one mile and 100 feet may seem insignificant, but the academic futures of young students hang in the balance as dispensaries move closer to schools.
As powerful residents of the city, our voices in opposition to this amendment would be extremely effective in pushing the City Council to reconsider the proximity limits of this ordinance and ensure the safety of the younger generation of students in Ann Arbor.
Madeleine Burke is an Opinion Columnist who writes about local politics in her column “The Ann Arbiter.” You can reach her at madeleb@umich.edu.
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