Am I legally and/or ethically obligated to report an elementary teacher who grows/smokes marijuana?

[Harley]

I just met a guy who seemed nice enough - he loves teaching and is starting his first job working with elementary school students. He is really looking forward to this new career. But I learned that he also grows and smokes marijuana, and regularly posts updates about, and pictures of, his crops on a social media site, on the public setting. I doubt if he's planning to give any to his students, and I'm hoping he at least won't be using during the school week (I have no idea how to ask without it going badly).

Culturally, it seems more and more that it's nobody's business if a person is growing the stuff for their own use and not for profit or distribution. Realistically, I don't give a hang about culture if it's trending towards okaying activities that could cause anyone harm.

I'd hate to see an otherwise upstanding-seeming guy lose his job especially in this economy.
However, considering he will be working closely with children all year, am I legally, ethically, and/or morally obligated to report him? Will I risk consequences if I don't? Or should I go the route of figuring he'll get caught soon enough on his own since he's not really hiding it either?

[Mayam]

Report it if you believe children are in harm's way.

[King96]

no your are in no way obligated to inform the autoritys...and just a side note if he is growing and its for his own personal use there is a good chance that he has a condition and has a medical mariunana licence because in most cases people who grow it sell it. and if hes not selling its got to be medical

[Jeff]

That will be hard to prove to the authorities.You state that quote"I learned that he also grows and smokes marijuana" unquote.Did you personally see him smoke it or did you physically see him plant the seeds in the soil and grow this plant?NO you are just going be hear say,which doesn't mean a hill of beans.please mind your own business when it comes to accusing someone of doing something illegal.What if that was you someone accused of shooting up heroin or growing opium,how would you feel if it was not true at all? HURT.This man could lose everything EVERYTHING.keep to yourself.

[Ghosts]

If he making it public on purpose, he most likely is within his legal right to smoke it. I would find out more about him before going off saying he is a drug dealer or something.

[Kim]

Legally? No, you don't have an obligation to report something illegal if you see it, though you can't help either, and you usually have to answer truthfully if asked by the police or in court.

Morally/ethically? No, not at all. So long as his own drug use/production doesn't negatively affect his work as a teacher, or is otherwise bad for the kids, what's the harm in it?

[Deah]

Well you said that he posts pictures on social media sites. I think he does sell it. Or maybe it is for personal use.

[Marie]

On a medical/chemical level, it is no different than having a couple beers in the evening. As long as he is not doing it before school, or during school hours, when he uses it is not effecting his job.

I DO believe this is none of your business, especially if you are in a medical marijuana state. If he is using it for medical purposes, he is DRASTICALLY safer with the kids than he would be if he were on vicodin, oxy, xanax, anti psychotics or virtually any other rx med that marijuana is used in place of.

You say activities that could cause people harm, but if he is not using it at school, and is not bringing it to school, how is it harming anyone? How would it harm people more if he was on any of the meds I just mentioned, which would give him a legal right to bring and use those meds AT school?? Wouldnt that put more people in danger?? What if kids went through his stuff and found his xanax, then passed it around the school. Wouldnt that pose drastically more danger than if kids found his marijuana and passed that around????

On the legal side of things... if he is not a medical marijuana patient, he can get into a LOT of trouble. Even if he is a medical marijuana patient, he still cannot have the marijuana on school property. You would have a legal responsibility to report if you knew he was giving it to the kids, or using it at school. But you have no responsibility to just report personal use of it.