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Oh no, those hippies are at it again! First
these dreadlock deadbeats won, at 63 percent, a direct ballot
initiative to make marijuana a low priority for the Eureka Springs
police department. Now these folks from the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws want to cause harm to our little campus in
the hills by making the penalties for being caught with grass as minor
as the penalties for being busted for drinking. What are they
thinking?!?!
Actually,
in our opinion, their thinking is genius and a much appreciated
gesture. What NORML, and particularly president Jordan Dickerson, is
doing is exactly what we want to see in a civilized, open-minded
democracy.
The resolution going up for debate in Associated
Student Government tomorrow, sponsored by ASG senators Megan Bright and
Jacob Halloway, proposes that the UA accept marijuana use on a more
factual foundation, citing that marijuana is safer than alcohol.
We
can already see those older readers and more closed-minded students who
roll their eyes and think, "Oh yeah. Of course they're for legalizing
anything that will mess them up. How juvenile! How hedonistic and
repulsive!" But it's more complicated than that.
The resolution
asks at the UA bring marijuana violations on campus down to the level
of an alcohol violation. Dickerson, in political terms, is looking to
create "a more sensible drug policy." Thus, violations regarding
marijuana should not be punished more than violations regarding alcohol
or cigarettes.
Prior conversation between NORML executives and
ASG members resulted in a warning from UA administration via ASG. If
ASG were to pass the resolution, then the administration would grant
them their wish by increasing the punishment for alcohol violations up
to the same level as a marijuana violation on campus.
After
NORML's initial run with UA administration regarding the resolution,
they added a clause asking the UA to clarify the enforced policies for
marijuana and alcohol violations in the UA handbook.
If the resolution does pass in ASG, NORML
hopes to establish a dialog with the UA regarding their enforced
policies, desiring to discuss the implications of "the facts" of
marijuana use, Dickerson said.
We
genuinely understand if some of the members of ASG are a bit squeamish
about supporting a resolution that asks the UA to make the punishments
associated with marijuana on par with those associated with drinking.
Most of us at the paper hope to someday be professional journalists,
and we imagine most people in ASG hope to someday be professional
politicians. Without a hint of degradation, we understand ASG members
are worried about their future "political images," especially if they
support the Wacky Weed.
Yet by definition, the ASG is the
representation of UA students. The Traveler conducted an online poll
asking students: "Do you believe marijuana use is safer than alcohol
use?" Fifty-eight percent - 223 students - said yes, marijuana was
safer.
No one has died from a pot overdose.
It does not breed violence.
It is less harmful than any other drug.
Leading
by punishment only makes people resentful. America's prohibition on
alcohol in the 1920s speaks miles for the damage that restriction can
cause to an otherwise harmless public. By today's standards, who really
looks down on those who drank when it was illegal?
We have high
hopes that the ASG Senate will lead by example. No one is asking the
senators to prove their worth by toking up on the Senate floor, and no
one is saying that marijuana isn't harmful if put in irresponsible
hands. What the Traveler is asking is for the ASG Senate to do what it
sought to do from day one, which is to speak as the unified voice of
students.
Senators should make it clear to the generations of
the past that they believe in closing the gap of some inequalities by
declaring the absurdity of some ideas of the status quo. Only then can
we move forward. Not toward a "better" tomorrow or one filled with
drug-addled lowlifes. But one where we can logically and civilly
address ridiculous principles put forth by generations of ignorance. Looking at the overall picture, it's hard for us to comprehend why the
United States is so anxious and timid about pushing for specific
marijuana reforms. It only takes a quick glance at history to see how
absurd our current "debate" over marijuana is.
It
was the opium wars (kept going through primarily jingoistic and racial
hatred) that first connected marijuana and its effects to mostly the
poor, black and Chinese. It's embarrassing to watch "Reefer Madness," a
1936 drama film revolving around the tragic events that follow when
high school students are lured by pushers to try marijuana. It's
disturbing, especially for those who smoke. The film depicts students
going wild when they use the drug, and spreads fear of the "crazy-negro
affliction" that caused its black users to rape and pillage innocent
white women.
Medically, there is always the argument that
smoking marijuana causes, among other things, impotence, memory loss
and the destruction of brain cells. The natural response to that
argument is, well, so do alcohol, TV and Dan Brown novels.
That's
just poor logic. One cannot make a case for an argument by giving
examples of other harmful, yet legal, things. But singling out
marijuana as the one and only line of addictive harm is biased and
ignorant.
It can be said that alcohol damages society more
than marijuana. From 2001 to 2003, more than 78,000 people died in the
United States because of alcohol-related incidents or health
conditions, according to a Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Web site.
Addiction comes in many forms. An over-indulgence in
anything will harm you in the end. The effects of an over-indulgence in
marijuana is what Ad Council ads focus on. But even the "this is your
brain on drugs" argument is losing face.
The only half-valid
reason the Ad Council now gives is that marijuana makes you lazy and
unproductive. They've given up on telling us that using marijuana will
destroy our minds or bodies. Because everyone knows the damage that
alcohol and cigarettes cause, but these are still culturally acceptable
forms of destroying your body. |
