Pubdate: Thu, 10 Mar 2005
Source: Boulder Weekly (CO)
Copyright: 2005 Boulder Weekly
Contact:  http://www.boulderweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/57
Author: Evan Ackerfeld

BOOZE VS. GANJA

I have been following the recent and ongoing coverage of the various efforts
underway to curb dangerous student drinking on and around Colorado's college
campuses, and I think our schools are going about it the wrong way.

Consider the potential harms associated with alcohol: fatal alcohol
poisoning, sexual assault, fighting, unprotected sex-the list goes on and
on. Now, consider the greatest harms associated with marijuana, a similarly
inevitable and highly penalized activity on college campuses. There has
never been a single fatal marijuana overdose in history, and the use of
marijuana has never been conclusively linked to violent, aggressive or
sexually devious or vulnerable behavior.

So, why are colleges' penalties for student marijuana violations still
greater than those imposed for student alcohol violations? Colorado's
universities should consider this policy discrepancy and stop implicitly
steering their students toward a less penalized, albeit more dangerous
recreational drug.

Evan Ackerfeld,

Boulder
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MAP posted-by: Josh