Home  News Latest RAPE, ASSAULT ... AND MARIJUANA?
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RAPE, ASSAULT ... AND MARIJUANA? |
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Thursday, 05 April 2007 |
Our View: University policies that equate marijuana possession to rape, assault and arson are absurd and should be changed.
Neither quietly nor timidly have advocates of loosening marijuana penalties in on-campus residences lobbied for their cause the past several years, bringing a politically divisive issue to the mainstream and uniting the student body against what are still enormous odds. We hope the SGA votes to symbolically support reducing marijuana penalties in a vote tonight, but no matter the result, the issue will be far from over.
The university has changed greatly since the days of free love and students openly smoking marijuana on McKeldin Mall. Now, students found in possession of marijuana in an on-campus residence are in an A-level violation of Residence Hall rules. Essentially equating marijuana possession with other A-level offenses such as arson, assault and rape, it's a veritable given first-time offenders will face suspension and expulsion from housing. Financial penalties, such as the loss of financial aid, often follow.
Student lobbying has reasonably focused on not the legality of marijuana, but on the fairness of punishment. It's difficult for us to accept that a reasonable person would consider marijuana possession morally and legally equivalent to maliciously setting a fire or committing sexual assault. Groups such as Students for Sensible Drug Policy and National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws are lobbying for possession of small amounts of marijuana to be reduced to a B-level offense, accompanied by far more proportionate punishments.
We think it's important to note that the legal system considers rape and assault to be felonies, and possession of small amounts of marijuana to be a misdemeanor, at most. This is an absurd disconnect between the norms of society as reflected in our legal system and university policy.
A majority of students are in support - 65 percent of students voted to loosen marijuana punishments in a non-binding referendum last year. The RHA, after an initial failed attempt, voted recently in support of reducing marijuana possession to a B-level offense. The SGA will likely do the same tonight.
All eyes now turn to Resident Life. It's likely it will reject attempts to reduce penalties - Director Deb Grandner has cited increased crime as a possible consequence. But that's not what this debate is about. Resident Life should not rationalize away reasons why an injustice is being perpetuated and should instead correct it. Marijuana possession is not rape, assault or arson, and the university should no longer treat it as such.
-- MAP Posted-by: Derek
Pubdate: Wed, 04 Apr 2007
Source: Diamondback, The (U of MD Edu)
Copyright: 2007 Diamondback
Contact:
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Website: http://www.diamondbackonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/758
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n433.a06.html
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