There are three rules you must remember!
- No Driving
- No Drugs
- No Hitchhiking
If you are involved in any of these behaviors or break any other laws, you may have serious legal problems. These rules are not debatable. If you break any of these rules, you will be returned to your home country immediately!
No Drugs
Possession or use of drugs is not allowed by AFS, unless medically prescribed. Participants have no immunity from the laws in the host country governing use of or involvement with illegal drugs. Therefore, it is forbidden for AFS Participants to consume drugs except those prescribed for medical purposes.
Violation of this rule is cause for dismissal from the program and immediate return to your home country. You should remember this if you find yourself in a situation where illegal substances are being used, where there is use of alcohol by minors, or when knowingly associating with persons using these substances.
We know that views about non-medicinal drug usage vary from country to country. Because this is an issue that can have serious consequences for participants, AFS maintains a universal policy on how to manage situations involving non-medicinal drug usage, even in states where it is legal: possession or use of drugs is not allowed, unless medically prescribed.
A Note about Marijuana
Laws related to marijuana vary from country to country. For example, it is legal in some countries for individuals of legal age in the host country to use marijuana for medicinal and/or recreational purposes. However, AFS-USA prohibits the possession/use/sale of marijuana or other products containing any amount of THC, and all participants are expected to abstain from having, using, or selling marijuana while on program.
If someone offers you marijuana or other products containing any amount of THC, even in a country where it has been legalized, do NOT accept it and tell your host parents and/or liaison. Using marijuana under any circumstance is cause for dismissal from the program and immediate return to the U.S.
A Note About Prescription Drugs
It is against the law to have, use, or sell drugs that were prescribed by a doctor for someone else. Penalties can be the same as those for illegal drugs. There are special penalties involved for those who possess drugs on school grounds. If someone offers you prescription drugs, as with all illegal drugs, decline them and tell your host parents and/or liaison about the situation. Doing otherwise will put your own health at risk, as well as your participation in the AFS program.
When confronted with non-medicinal drug usage or involvement, these questions are most commonly raised:
Why does AFS terminate program participation for individuals who use or are involved with non- medicinal drugs?
It is AFS’s responsibility to remove participants from situations that can hold possible criminal consequences or personal risk. AFS maintains this universal policy to ensure participants' health and safety.
What if I am not actually using drugs but I am with people who are doing so?
Program participation can be cancelled if you are in the company of individuals using drugs and drug equipment or who are involved in the transport or distribution of drugs.
Your safety is the primary concern of AFS. Drug enforcement laws can be extremely severe. The police can arrest or detain an individual on suspicion of drug involvement simply by association or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Possession or use of illegal drugs can result in arrest, jail time, and criminal charges necessitating court proceedings. In some cases, a participant’s personal safety may also be at risk. If a participant is arrested, neither AFS nor the participant’s country of citizenship or family can have much of an influence on the process, therefore, immediate return to the home country is in the participant’s best interest. To delay this action can put the participant at risk of being detained by the police and entering into the criminal justice system, from which it can be difficult to extradite the participant.
For the reasons above, we recommend that you find out about any events (concerts, parties, etc.) you are interested in attending ahead of time. Your host sibling, parents, friends, or teachers may be able to give you more information about the event and the people expected to attend. It is also important that you respect your host parents’ advice regarding your participation in events, even if others you know are going.
No Hitchhiking
While hitchhiking may be a common form of traveling in some countries, it is considered a potentially dangerous activity and therefore is NOT allowed.
Several other considerations have led to the No Hitchhiking rule.
- Families generally do not allow their minor children to hitchhike. Therefore, if the participant hitchhikes, it could put the placement at risk.
- The participant’s ability to judge the driver’s motivation to stop to give a ride or to offer a ride can be impaired due to limited understanding of host country cultural norms. Limited knowledge of the locale where the ride is offered, and the route taken can also increase the risk when the decision is made to get into a vehicle driven by someone unknown.
- AFS must consider risk to the participant and the organization should the participant suffer harm, be that abuse, a car accident or other incident that brings adverse notoriety to AFS.
The AFS Definition of Hitchhiking
To seek transportation by asking strangers for a ride or accepting a ride offered by strangers in their private motor vehicle.
- To seek transportation: AFS does not consider hitchhiking an acceptable form of transportation for travel in the local community and most certainly not outside the community, which would be unauthorized independent travel.
- Asking for or accepting rides: Asking for or accepting rides at or near the roadway or elsewhere within the community. An example of near the roadway is using the typical sign of arm out with the thumb up. An example of out in the community is at a party asking for or accepting a ride home or to another party from a stranger, as defined below.
- Strangers: Defined as someone the participant does NOT know, at first meeting, or someone that does NOT have a recommendation, reference or referral by someone the participant does know and trust such as host family members, good friends or AFS Volunteers.
Asking for or accepting rides from known schoolmates would not be considered hitchhiking. However, host parents must be given the chance to approve rides by schoolmates to ensure participant safety in riding with drivers that might have new driver license restrictions or are considered at-risk drivers.