Pubdate: Sun, 04 Apr 2010
Source: Greenwood Commonwealth (MS)
Copyright: 2010 Greenwood Commonwealth
Contact:  http://www.gwcommonwealth.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1541
Author: Tim Kalich

EXPULSION TOO HARSH FOR SOME OF THE BUSTED

The problem with zero tolerance policies is that they  leave no room
for discretion by those who are charged  with applying them.

Take the case of 15 Mississippi Valley State University  students who
were expelled last week after being caught  in a campus drug raid
conducted by a half-dozen  law-enforcement agencies.

All 15 were treated identically under the university's  zero-tolerance
policy for drugs, even though the  severity of their alleged crimes
were not the same.  Yes, the 10 students who were charged with the
felony  of selling marijuana deserved to be kicked out of  school.
Anyone selling drugs on campus not only isn't  smart enough to be in
college, but they are putting  their fellow students at risk, since
violence and  drug-trafficking often go hand in hand.

Of the other five students, all of whom were charged  with possession
of a small quantity of marijuana, one  had a previous burglary arrest
this semester and had  worn out his welcome. The expulsion, however,
of the  remaining four students seems excessive.

Their punishment is out of sync with state criminal  law, with what
would have happened at some other  Mississippi campuses and with the
changing public  attitude toward marijuana use.

Mississippi law makes a significant distinction between  those who
sell marijuana and those who smoke it  recreationally. Possession of
about an ounce or less of  marijuana is a misdemeanor, with the
penalty being a  fine. The fines escalate with repeated offenses, but
there's no jail time. This state, as tough as it  generally is on most
crimes, realized years ago that it  couldn't afford to lock up every
person caught smoking  marijuana.

Had this same drug bust occurred at Ole Miss, the  students who were
charged with simple possession would  not have been expelled unless
there were other  extenuating circumstances, such as guns or violence
involved. They would have been required to participate  in an alcohol
and drug education program, been hit with  a financial penalty,
ordered to do community service  and put on probation for the next two
semesters. But  they would not have been so quickly given up on.

The same is probably true at Mississippi State  University, where
expulsion is also not automatic for  drug possession.

Although it would be preferable if MVSU and all college  campuses were
drug-free, it should not surprise anyone  who has ever attended
college or sent a child there  that many of the students are not just
high on  education.

According to the most recent federal survey, almost a  third of
college students acknowledged smoking  marijuana in the past year; a
sixth report having  smoked it in the past month.

MVSU officials actually should take some solace in  knowing that
marijuana was the only drug that lawmen  found on campus at the
culmination of a six-week  investigation. Had a similar probe been
conducted at a  university with a more affluent student body, it would
  have almost certainly turned up not just marijuana but  cocaine,
illicitly obtained prescription drugs and  probably worse.

Possibly because so many Americans have tried marijuana  at some
point, including at least the last three U.S.  presidents, the country
is moving steadily toward  treating marijuana as it does alcohol --
regulating it,  taxing it, but making it legal for adults to consume.

Already 14 states have legalized marijuana for  medicinal purposes,
and more are considering it all the  time. The South, the nation's
most conservative region,  has been slower than other parts of the
country to  embrace the idea, but lawmakers in at least three
Southern states -- Virginia, North Carolina and  neighboring Alabama
- -- have been considering such  legislation this year.

Nor is legalization likely to stop there. In  California, which
already has one of the nation's most  liberal medical marijuana laws,
voters will be deciding  in November on whether to become the first to
legalize  marijuana for recreational use as well. It's not just  old
hippies who like the proposition. Stiff-collared  economists see it as
a way to generate at least $1.3  billion a year in tax revenue for
that deficit-riddled  state.

Although California tends to wig out now and then, this  time it's not
far ahead of the national mood. A Gallup  Poll last year showed 44
percent of Americans believe  marijuana should be legal, compared to
just 12 percent  40 years earlier.

Advocates include former prosecutors and judges who  believe that
legalizing marijuana will do the same  thing that lifting Prohibition
did with alcohol in the  1930s. It will get organized crime out of the
business.

They also claim it will make it easier to keep the drug  out of the
hands of children, since retailers will have  to check ID. I don't
know that I buy that. Young  Americans, including under-age college
students, don't  seem to have any trouble getting as much alcohol as
they want.

Nevertheless, it's clear the country does not lump  marijuana in the
same danger category as other drugs.  MVSU is behind the times by
acting as if it is. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D