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Ithaca College Students and Newspaper Endorse Equalization of Marijuana and Alcohol Penalties |
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Written by SAFER
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Wednesday, 26 October 2011 |
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Ithaca College is the latest institution of higher education to adopt a SAFER-style measure calling for the equalization of campus penalties for marijuana and alcohol. The campus newspaper, The Ithacan, reports :
The initiative will address the judicial
discrepancies between the two substances by requiring the same
disciplinary and educational interventions for both infractions.
The penalty for marijuana possession is currently more severe than that for underage alcohol possession.
Thanks to the hard work of the school's chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), the initiative was brought before the Student Govenment Association (SGA) where it was readily approved. The students effectively made the case that marijuana is a far safer substance than alcohol, and seeing as its use is just as illegal as underage drinking, it makes no sense for the penalties to be more severe. In fact, as they pointed out, it sends a pretty dangerous message. Senior Ben Malakoff, public relations
officer of SSDP, said the obvious disparity between the penalties for
the two substances fosters the culture of alcohol use and stifles
students from basing their decisions on health and social consequences. Malakoff said the initiative intends to
debunk the common misconception that underage drinking is much safer and
more acceptable than marijuana use.
Following passage of the measure at the SGA, the campus newspaper stepped up and endorsed the measure, lending further to the momentum of the effort. From the editorial:
With new support from the Student Government Association, SSDP could
push for a policy change that debunks a common misconception among
students. Many believe that, judicially, alcohol is safer than marijuana
because of the strict penalties. After their first offense with
marijuana, students are on probation. But they receive no more than a
slap on the wrist with alcohol. And when society tells us “No alcohol
allowed (for a few more years),” people are inherently more lenient in
their reprimand for drinking abuse.
If the college wants to dispel the alcohol myth and create a safer
atmosphere for its students, it should decrease the disparity between
penalties for marijuana and alcohol use. It should lessen the
consequences for marijuana possession, but not increase those for
alcohol. Upping the ante on alcohol would contradict societal norms and
may strain the seemingly open relationship between the college and its
students. 
This notion is clearly a no-brainer amongst the student population at Ithaca (and elsewhere). The SSDP chapter carried out a survey of 200 students on campus and, wouldn't you know it, a vast majority believe marijuana is treated more harshly than alcohol on campus and the penalties ought to be equalized, and just about all agreed that marijuana is far safer than alcohol. Click here to see the results.
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