Pubdate: Fri, 9 May 2008
Source: DrugSense Weekly (DSW)
Section: Feature Article
Website: http://www.drugsense.org
Author: Matthew Robinson, PhD
Note: Matthew Robinson is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at 
Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. He is co-author of Lies, 
Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics: A Critical Analysis of Claims 
Made by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, State University 
of New York Press, 2007.

HYPOCRISY OF APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY DRUG POLICY

Recent stories in "The Appalachian" give students an opportunity to 
see the hypocrisy of our approach to drug policy.  From these 
stories, we learn: 1) Appalachian State University is unwilling to 
enforce its own policy on tobacco smoking near campus buildings in 
spite of the dangers associated with tobacco smoke; and 2) students 
will be arrested for possessing and intending to sell marijuana in 
spite of the relative harmlessness of the drug.

Simple math demonstrates the ludicrous nature of this situation (keep 
in mind these are estimates). There are approximately 15,000 
Appalachian students.  Roughly 30% of them smoke, meaning there are 
approximately 4,500 smokers on campus.  The Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that between 33% and 50% of 
smokers will die from smoking-related illnesses; thus, between 1,485 
and 2,250 current ASU students will die from smoking tobacco.

Assuming even 20% of Appalachian students smoke marijuana each month, 
there are approximately 3,000 current marijuana smokers among our 
students.  Of these 3,000 students, it is possible that a grand total 
of one may die from marijuana-related illnesses (the CDC says there 
are only approximately 1 to 2 marijuana deaths in the entire country 
in any given year, so odds are not a single Appalachian student will 
die from marijuana).

Comparing the death rate of these two drugs, we see that tobacco is 
about 990 to 1,500 times more deadly per user than marijuana! In 
spite of this obvious discrepancy, the university police will 
continue to arrest marijuana possessors and would-be sellers, and 
yet, they are "uninterested" in enforcing the tobacco ban.

Meanwhile, those of us who are sick of being exposed to the harmful 
chemicals and carcinogens of tobacco smokers on campus are told to 
use "positive reinforcement" to deal with this problem. I can barely 
stomach the hypocrisy.

Ten years ago I proposed a six-element plan to my university to deal 
with this problem, once and for all.  The elements included: 1) 
banning smoking near university entrances; 2) posting large and 
visible no smoking signs at each university entrance; 3) widely 
publicizing the new policy; 4) removing all ashtrays from near campus 
entries; 5) enforcing the policy with police officers the first two 
weeks of every semester until a new, voluntary anti-smoking culture 
took over; and 6) providing smokers with a place to smoke that is not 
near any campus entrance. Unless every one of these elements is 
implemented, the problem will persist.

I call on university officials with the power to do something about 
this problem to do something about it once and for all. I am sick of 
seeing marijuana offenders arrested while the people who force me to 
breathe in the harmful chemicals and carcinogens of tobacco smoke are 
literally ignored.
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