The following rules apply to every AFS participant hosted in the United States at all times:

No Drugs - No Driving - No Hitchhiking

If you are involved in any of these behaviors or break any other laws, you may have serious legal problems. These three 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 United States 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 state to state. 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 state to state. For example, it is legal in some states for individuals 21 years of age and older to use marijuana for medicinal and/or recreational purposes. However, federal law prohibits the possession/use/sale of marijuana, and all participants coming to the U.S. are expected to abstain from having, using, or selling marijuana while on program.

If someone offers you marijuana, even in a state where it has been legalized, do NOT accept it and tell your host parents and/or liaison. Using marijuana or products that contain marijuana derivatives, including any product containing THC, under any circumstance is cause for dismissal from the program and immediate return to your home country.

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 extricate 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.

Why doesn't AFS depend on drug testing to prove whether a participant has used drugs and should be returned home?

AFS does not depend on drug testing since the process is often unreliable. For this reason, AFS maintains a strict policy against the use of or involvement with illegal drugs. Any involvement or suspicion of involvement with illegal drugs is grounds for early return home.

No Driving

AFS does not allow participants to operate any moving vehicle that requires a license. This means that all AFS Participants are forbidden from driving cars (this rule applies to driving anywhere, including on private land, in driveways, and in parking lots). Participants are not allowed to take a driver’s education course while on the AFS program. Failure to comply with these rules is cause for termination from the program and the participant’s early return to his or her home country.

Most states have recently adopted more stringent controls over the use of jet skis, wave runners, and other personal watercraft, and a license is required in many states to operate such vehicles. In states where a license is not required, AFS students are required to obtain a Supplemental Waiver signed by their parents giving consent for such participation as an operator or passenger.

If you wish to operate other vehicles, such as a snowmobile or tractor, you must have your parents’ permission in writing in the form of an AFS Supplemental Activity Waiver.

No Hitchhiking

While hitchhiking may be a common form of traveling in some countries, it is considered a potentially dangerous activity in the U.S. and therefore is not allowed.

Several other considerations have led to the No Hitchhiking rule:

• Hitchhiking is against State law if conducted in the customary way of standing by the roadside with hand out asking motorist to stop to give a ride.
• Hitchhiking wherever it occurs is against the law in some states.
• American 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 and the Department of State.

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.

 Key words in the definition are:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 who have might have new driver license restrictions or are considered at-risk drivers. When you come on program, ask your host parents about their expectations and rules about who is considered a “safe” driver.

Other Reasons for Program Termination and Early Return

In addition to these three non-negotiable rules, there are other reasons that an AFS participant’s program can be terminated.

Here are some other reasons that program terminations can occur:

• Taking unauthorized trips away from your host family or host community
• Continued unwillingness to try to adapt to the lifestyle of the host country
• Patterns of poor attendance and lack of effort and achievement at school
• Pregnancy
• Theft
• Mental health considerations requiring ongoing care
• Breaking local laws
• Unauthorized visits from parent(s)/guardian(s) or friends
• Inability to adapt to the host country and to life with one’s host family
• Moving to another host family not arranged for and approved by AFS
• Injury or illness that prevents regular participation in the AFS program, attending school, or taking part in AFS or host family activities
• Consistent unwillingness to abide by host family rules

Please be sure to read the Participation Agreement, which you signed as part of your application, as a reminder of the stipulations you agreed to in order to participate in the AFS program.