Pubdate: Thu, 27 Oct 2005
Source: GW Hatchet (George Washington U, DC Edu)
Copyright: 2005 The GW Hatchet
Contact:  http://www.gwhatchet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/757
Author: Robert Parker
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm (Higher Education Act)

GROUP PUSHES FOR GW TO CHANGE MARIJUANA POLICY

A new student organization is trying to persuade GW to lessen its
penalties for drug violations, particularly for students who lose
University housing after being caught with marijuana in their dorm
rooms.

Students in GW's chapter of the National Organization for the Reform
of Marijuana Laws said they are critical of GW's policy against
marijuana use because students can be evicted from campus after one
drug offense. Junior Ronald Fisher, GW NORML president, said he thinks
drug violations involving marijuana should be treated similarly to an
alcohol violation.

"The fact that the University allows several alcohol violations before
being kicked out of residence halls but has a zero-tolerance policy
for marijuana is ridiculous," he said.

GW NORML, whose membership has grown to about 155 students since it
began this year, is appealing to the University's top administrators
to fuel change and hopes to eliminate the part of the Student Code of
Conduct that says students can lose housing after one drug offense.

"We are currently participating in a letter-writing campaign to
convince (University) President (Stephen Joel) Trachtenberg and the
Board of Trustees to change the 'one strike and you are out' policy
for housing," Fisher said. "NORML isn't asking for marijuana to be
allowed on campus. We just want to make marijuana punishments equal to
alcohol punishments."

Trachtenberg said in an interview with The Hatchet Monday that the
University will "probably not" change its drug policies as a result of
the group's efforts, adding that many schools have embraced zero tolerance.

"Universities have become very cautious with these things,"
Trachtenberg said. "If they are going to make a mistake, it is going
to be on the side of caution. We are driven by our sense of
responsibility but also by our sense of liability."

Trachtenberg is familiar with the fight over marijuana. In 1972 he
wrote an article, published in the Federal Bar Journal and co-authored
by Lewis J. Paper, concluding that marijuana should be
decriminalized.

"I've moved more to the right since then," Trachtenberg said Monday.
"This is because contemporary research suggests that marijuana is more
damaging in the long run than I knew when I wrote that article."

GW's drug policy seems to be similar to the policies at nearby
schools. American and Georgetown universities both employ penalties
similar to GW's in response to marijuana violations, and the loss of
campus housing is included as a possible ramification at those schools.

Students at Boston University also face eviction from housing and
possible expulsion if caught using illegal drugs in or near dorms. New
York University's drug policy states that consequences of drug
violations include everything from expulsion to "removal of
privileges" at that university.

Fisher said he does not see the organization's request as
unreasonable.

"College kids die nationwide every year because of alcohol," he said.
"Not once has anyone died from marijuana."

Tara Woolfson, director of Student Judicial Services, said the
University fully administers the GW Code of Student Conduct, which
prohibits the "possession of illegal drugs or controlled substances."
The code also recommends cancellation of a student's housing license
agreement as the minimum sanction for students found in violation of
possession of illegal drugs, including marijuana.

Woolfson said three students have been found in violation of the
policy this year, but she couldn't comment on how many have actually
lost housing as a result.

"In the case of drug possession, cancellation of Housing License
Agreement is the minimum sanction recommended," she wrote in an e-mail.

"Depending on the severity of the case and the student's judicial
history, a student's sanction may be more or less severe than what is
recommended," she added. She had no comment on the NORML movement on
campus.

There are about 50 NORML chapters on college campuses this year
working to combat their colleges' marijuana policies as well as
federal and state laws which prohibit marijuana.

NORML chapters have also sprung up recently at both American
University and the University of Maryland to promote the
decriminalization of marijuana. American's NORML began last year as
the first college chapter in D.C.

GW NORML will also be mailing more than 80 letters encouraging
congressional representatives and senators to repeal the Higher
Education Act's drug provision, which was added in 1998 and blocks
students with drug convictions from federal financial aid, making more
than 175,000 college students ineligible for federal loans, grants and
work study.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake