Pubdate: Thu, 23 Feb 2012
Source: Battalion, The (Texas A&M U, TX Edu)
Copyright: 2012 The Battalion
Contact:  http://www.thebatt.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1137
Author: Kevin Smith

CANNABIS CLUB ROLLS VOTING BOOTH TO CAMPUS

Marijuana activists look to carve out a spot in Academic Plaza to hold
a voting booth checking the pulse of Aggie decriminalization advocates
on Thursday.

The Aggie Cannabis Reform and Education Society, ACRES, is an
on-campus organization that promotes the legalization of hemp and
medical marijuana, and pushes for decriminalization of recreational
use.

"We want to educate people about the facts of marijuana," said Mostafa
Selim, ACRES president and junior university studies major. "We know
there's a large cannabis-friendly community at Texas A&M, so we want
to organize everyone into a serious formal movement."

A student and ACRES member who requested anonymity said the club does
not promote the use of marijuana, but hopes that laws controlling
marijuana can be reformed.

"The system is spinning out of control. There were over 80,000 arrests
last year, we can't keep justifying all of these incarcerations for a
harmless plant," he said. "[University Police Department] arrested 40
of our fellow Ags last year and potentially took away the hopes of
graduation from them ... We aren't saying that everyone should smoke
weed. All we want is to crack down and get realistic law enforcement
that's going to solve problems, not create them."

ACRES holds meetings to educate students about legislation and laws
surrounding marijuana, such as the schedule system, which prioritizes
the drugs into different "schedules" depending on each drug's decided
potency.

"Marijuana has caused zero deaths; it doesn't kill anyone and you
can't overdose," Selim said. 'People die in College Station of alcohol
poisoning every year. It might make more sense to put alcohol on
Schedule 1 and take weed off of it."

Weed joins the ranks with drugs including LSD and heroine. Examples of
Schedule 2 drugs include cocaine and methamphetamine.

The anonymous ACRES member said the use of marijuana helps ease
complications of chemotherapy in cancer patients.

"Weed has legitimate uses for medicinal purposes. For example, cancer
patients suffer from side effects from chemotherapy -- it's called
wasting syndrome.

Their appetites are destroyed because of the radiation blasted into
them. Weed can help with that through the 'munchies' by raising the
appetite of cancer patients," the anonymous source said. "Not one
prescription medication increases appetite."

There is also, however, opposition to the club and its beliefs among
Aggie students.

"Having smoked weed, I wouldn't say it's worse or better than anything
else," said Jacob Metcalf, senior construction science major. "How do
we better society by smoking pot? Are we going to think up crazy ideas
and then after the high realize we're too lazy to do anything?"

Selim said the bottom line is that it should be a matter of
choice.

"It should be your choice to smoke, it shouldn't be someone telling
you that you can kill your liver with alcohol and then throw you in
jail for weed," Selim said.
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