Daniel Panzer said he tried everything to fight off his insomnia.

But the sleeping pills prescribed to the first-year chemistry student by his doctor were not working. Only medical marijuana, he said, would relax him and help him sleep.

However, the residence halls have a strict policy against its usage, even though Panzer had the necessary paperwork to prove he needed marijuana. He said he would sometimes have to walk to a friend’s apartment to smoke a joint and then walk back in order to fall asleep.

“I feel like a criminal sometimes for following the law,” Panzer, co-president of UCLA’s Students for Sensible Drug Policy, said. “It’s frustrating because I’m not doing anything wrong.”

A UCF student group pushing for the decriminalization of marijuana laws is celebrating what it calls “a victory for marijuana reform advocates,” according to a press release from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML.

The celebration comes after UCF’s Golden Rule Review Committee voted 5-1 in favor of equalizing punishments students face when violating alcohol or marijuana regulations imposed by the Golden Rule. The proposal will now move to the desk of UCF Vice President Dr. Maribeth Ehasz for approval at the end of the semester.

“We are very glad to see the Golden Rule Review Committee standing up for a sensible and fair policy,” said Tyler Smith, the spokesman for the UCF chapter of NORML. “We look forward to working with the administration in order to ensure students’ voices are heard.”

Last Thursday was the first day of National Alcohol Awareness Month, and to mark the occasion, students on more than 80 college campuses across the country rallied last week to support marijuana as an alternative to alcohol, according to an April 1 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation — a national non-profit organization devoted to educating people on the relative safety of marijuana versus alcohol — organized the “Nationwide Day of Action” to promote marijuana as a safer alternative to alcohol.

According to the Chronicle, students who took part in the rallies asked their college presidents to sign the Emerald Initiative — a document promising “informed and dispassionate public debate” on marijuana use.

While 135 college presidents have signed the Amethyst Initiative — which calls for the drinking age to be lowered — none signed the Emerald Initiative when asked last Thursday, the Chronicle reported.

A group of Iowa State University students took to the open Thursday afternoon near Parks Library to voice their support for the legalization of marijuana.

“If you get caught with a roach, you get thrown in jail, but if you get caught with an open can of beer you get a slap on the wrist!” shouted Russ Nupnau, a freshman in mechanical engineering.

Nupnau and several others held signs and took down the names of fellow students who said they supported the group SAFER, which stands for “Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation.”

SAFER is a national organization that kicked off National Alcohol Awareness Month by hosting rallies at 83 college campuses around the country where students distributed information about the relative harms of alcohol and marijuana.

The group had gathered 420 signatures by Thursday. The number 420, although often used to refer to marijuana, was arrived at by coincidence, said Marisa Williams, president of the student group Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation, or SAFER FLC.

FLC rules require approximately 350 signatures to put a ballot measure in front of students. A student election is set for April 13-14.

“We are just saying that marijuana is safer than alcohol and should be treated that way on campus," Williams said.

A pack of students picketed Wescoe Beach Thursday as part of a nationwide effort to promote marijuana use as a safer alternative to alcohol.

More than 80 colleges and universities across the country recognized the day of action, which also marked the first day of National Alcohol Awareness Month.

The event was launched by Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation, a national non-profit organization founded in response to alcohol overdose deaths on college campuses.