A proposal in the Virginia General Assembly might bring something unexpected to ABC stores: marijuana. Virginia Delegate David Englin, a Democrat from House District 45, introduced House Joint Resolution No. 140, which proposes a study to examine the economic impact of legalizing marijuana and selling it in Virginia ABC stores. However, it is not the first bill of its kind to reach the floor. "It's hard for me to believe that even a study will get passed," said Karen Hult, a Virginia Tech political science professor. "I think there is going to be some concern about whether it's studying something that legislators would ever agree to, and I think many of them will say, 'No, we wouldn't.'" [continues 711 words]
Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth" - Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address. We live in a democracy, one which many people say is the greatest on earth, including myself. In a democracy, the will of the people is paramount, and the majority rules, provided that it does not oppress the minority. But today the minority is oppressing the majority, spearheaded by the federal government. In the beginning of October, four United States prosecutors announced they would be increasing their "enforcement" of federal law in California. This increased enforcement was outlined as the use of new tactics, which include threatening property owners with civil forfeiture of their properties and any assets derived from them, such as rent payments. [continues 784 words]
The dictionary defines "education" as the "act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life." With that in mind, I am not sure how the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program has been able to keep the "E" in its name. The "general knowledge" the group imparts upon the public is based far more on myths and scare tactics than on factual evidence. The organization certainly does not encourage reasoning and judgment, instead relying on the students of the program to take everything presented to them at face value without even considering contrary scientific evidence. [continues 646 words]
The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use. The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. An admitted former pot smoker, President Barack Obama has thus far maintained the prohibition status quo rather than pursue change. Would Barack Obama be in the White House if he had been convicted of a marijuana offense in his youth? Marijuana decriminalization is a long overdue step in the right direction. Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as marijuana distribution is controlled by organized crime, consumers of the most popular illicit drug will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. Students who want to help end the intergenerational culture war otherwise known as the war on some drugs should contact Students for Sensible Drug Policy at SchoolsNotPrisons.com. Robert Sharpe Policy analyst Common sense for drug policy [end]
Since I have become the leader of the Virginia Tech chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, I have continually encountered the same question: Are you pro-drug? Individuals make the assumption that the fact that I oppose ineffective anti-drug legislation somehow implies that I advocate drug use. In a sense, I find such an assumption sort of confusing. Does being pro-choice imply that one is pro-abortion? Does supporting one's right to eat fatty foods from McDonald's suggest that you are pro-obesity? The simple answer is no. In both of those scenarios, we have acknowledged the fact that a person has the right do what she pleases with his or her own body, so long as nobody else is hurt. [continues 697 words]
Kristopher Reinertson hit the bull's-eye with, "Tech Administration Should Retire Zero Tolerance" (CT, Mar. 23). In fact the relatively safe, socially acceptable, God-given plant cannabis (marijuana) should be completely re-legalized. A beneficial component of re-legalizing cannabis that doesn't get mentioned is that it will lower hard drug addiction rates. DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) will have to stop brainwashing youth into believing lies, half-truths and propaganda concerning cannabis, which creates grave, future problems. How many citizens try cannabis and realize it's not nearly as harmful as they were taught in DARE-type government environments? Then they think other substances must not be so bad either, only to become addicted to deadly drugs. The old lessons make cannabis out to be among the worst substances in the world, even though it's less addictive than coffee and has never killed a single person. [continues 83 words]
I would like to raise awareness of the lack of celebration for the 20th anniversary of the enactment of our university's zero tolerance drug policy - a policy that our administrators would be wise to retire. In the fall of 1988 we welcomed President McComas to Virginia Tech. On his first day on the job, he held a meeting with the deans and provost expressing his concern for students' quality of life outside the classroom. March 17, the next semester, Virginia Tech enacted the zero tolerance drug policy while students were absent on spring break. There was not even a mention of this policy change in the Collegiate Times the entire year. [continues 966 words]
In response to the Dallas Morning News editorial "Phelps, pot and dealing with the consequences" published in Thursday's Collegiate Times, I wish to provide the missing link between "pot smokers like Michael Phelps" and "innocent Mexicans killed by drug cartels" that the editorial board chose to leave absent. At Virginia Tech's Public Forum on Alcohol and Other Drug Policies last October, a cadet student posited that I and all the students who advocate for change of our Zero Tolerance drug policy are not proud to be Hokies. While I respect that he came forward and shared his views, I cannot help but think that he and the Dallas Morning News editor are missing the same common point: that policies can be improved and that our current drug policies are broken. [continues 297 words]
Underneath the "hips" and "hoorays" being shouted across the world as America elects our first president who happens to be black, a ball of tumbleweed rolls down from the silent, dusty Wall Street to Main Street in Blacksburg. Economists say we face the greatest economic challenge since the Great Depression. We cannot simply throw our money at the problem and expect the CEOs to bail us out. What we need is a variety of effective, future-oriented investments aimed toward our infrastructure and energy technology sectors, as well as a variety of money-generating solutions to help our economy recover from its drunken stumble toward a devastating depression. [continues 303 words]
He's a cowboy with a cause. Dressed in the plain white T-shirt he designed that has 'Cops say legalize drugs, ask me why' written across the torso, a huge belt buckle and a cowboy hat, 18 year police force veteran Howard Wooldridge is extremely talkative and energetic for someone who just drove five hours to Tech from Maryland. Students for a Sensible Drug Policy invited Wooldridge to speak in Squires last night to advocate what he calls "focusing on drunk drivers, not Willie Nelson." Hallucinogens, ecstasy, LSD, mushrooms, stimulants, amphetamines, cocaine, opiates, heroin morphine, PCP, marijuana -- he wants to legalize it all for the sake of safety. [continues 1039 words]
Retired police detective Howard Wooldridge spoke to an audience of students on Wednesday about the need to redirect America's war on drugs and the ineffectiveness of the government's efforts for the last 40 years. He was invited to speak at Virginia Tech by Students for a Sensible Drug Policy. Wooldridge helped found Law Enforcement Against Prohibition in 2002, based on his belief that the current methods used are the most "dysfunctional, immoral, and domestic policy since slavery." With this philosophy in mind, SSDP is working this semester to institute two new policies necessary to achieve a sensible drug policy. These include promoting the "good Samaritan policy," which would grant amnesty to students who call for help in medical emergencies involving alcohol and other drugs, and another policy that, according to the CT, would allow "first-time drug policy offenders to meet with a counselor at Cook Counseling Center in lieu of facing punitive charges." [continues 314 words]
Retired police detective Howard Wooldridge spoke to a group of students in Colonial Hall in Squires Student Center Wednesday night about the need to re-direct the American debate on drug use. "This has never been a war on drugs, it has always been a war on people," Wooldridge said. Wearing his trademark cowboy hat and boots, Wooldridge might look like a typical small-town sheriff. But a single glance at his 18-year record as a detective, his travel-worn passport, and his mastery of three languages, and it's easy to see this is no typical cowboy. [continues 424 words]
President of the Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, Kris Reinertson, chuckles to himself when awkwardly asked about the common misconceptions of the club he founded three years ago. There are no dreadlocks or Rasta colors; he is neat and shaven with a clean white smile and a disarming demeanor. Wearing a white polo with blue stripes at Squires, he speaks concisely while sparingly enjoying a spinach and broccoli stuffed pizza. Despite the associations made with his group about drugs, Reitnerson's main focus is in the codes of Virginia Tech. [continues 895 words]
Laws are a necessary part of any functioning society. They represent a moral and practical standard by which all people are judged and held accountable. Laws are the basis for all industry and provide a benchmark by which any dispute can be settled. The problem with laws is that sometimes the government goes overboard and begins exacting them which, make little to no sense or laws that are put in place by corrupt powers to help special interests. In a democratic system, the government is representative of the people it serves and the law is supposed to be exercised by the people. Therefore, in my opinion, the law should be something that the majority of people agree on and follow. Breaking the law should not be something that a majority of people do on a daily basis; however, in this country everyone at one time or another has broken the law even if they didn't realize it. That is why I am perplexed at how the democratic nation of the world, the country that sets the benchmark for a functional democracy, has the largest populations of imprisoned individuals around the world. [continues 766 words]
Ten years ago, without debate or even a proper vote, Congressman Mark Souder, an Indiana Republican and Christian fundamentalist fanatic, slipped the Aid Elimination Penalty (also known as the Drug-Free Student Loan Amendment) into the 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. As a result of this little-known provision, the Department of Education blocks access to federal financial aid for students with drug convictions. Since then, this stipulation has denied roughly 200,000 applicants financial aid because of prior drug convictions, according to Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit advocacy organization. These convictions are generally for nonviolent possession charges and mostly for marijuana. [continues 496 words]
Say no to drugs. Thanks to Scruff McGruff and gym teachers across the country, that four-word mantra has become as ingrained in the education system as basic algebra. But those who heard Matthew Fogg speak last night might think the more appropriate action is to "Say no to racism." Since its inception during the Nixon presidency in 1969, critics of the American government's War on Drugs have assailed it as being draconian and ineffective, leading to over-populated jails and creating a flourishing black market. One outspoken critic of the war has been retired Chief Deputy U.S. Marshall Matthew Fogg who spoke Tuesday evening in McBryde Hall about the social repercussions of the War on Drugs. [continues 410 words]
As graduates of D.A.R.E. drug education in the fifth grade, we each have the responsibility to give our feedback to politicians and parents who in turn have the responsibility to better educate their children. Since President Bush vetoed the recent children's health insurance plan, I have to doubt his commitment to children's health. President Bush continues to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on D.A.R.E., while both the General Accounting Office of the U.S. government and the National Academy of Science have determined D.A.R.E. ineffective. We must overcome our inability to replace D.A.R.E. with effective, science-based drug education. [continues 135 words]
Students who are convicted of marijuana possession could lose their federal aid, and in some severe cases, have their aid revoked indefinitely. Barry Simmons, director of scholarships and financial aid at Virginia Tech, said that only one student in the past five years has been affected by this policy. Finding students who may be affected has become less common with time. "We had to dig to find the one that we had," Simmons said. He explained that there are several exceptions to the policy. [continues 599 words]
When high school senior Joseph Frederick unveiled a poster reading "Bong hits for Jesus" during the 2002 Winter Olympics Torch Relay in a school-sponsored activity in Juneau, Alaska, the school principal suspended him for a period of 10 days. Frederick sued in response to what he believed to be unfair treatment by the school administration, specifically principal Deborah Morse. Since 2002, the case has gone before the district court, which ruled in favor of Morse. The Ninth Circuit then reversed the district court and ruled in favor of Fredrick, as they felt his right to free speech had been denied. The Supreme Court recently heard the case on Monday and has yet to make a ruling. [continues 560 words]
The Collegiate Times is negligent in getting facts correct in the article, "Marijuana is not the only pain reliever," (CT, Feb. 21) concerning the recent lawsuit filed by Americans for Safe Access over medical patient use of cannabis. The Data Quality Act requires the government to correct its own misstatements. The assertion that marijuana has no medical value has been historically discredited, as patently false and federal authorities should be stopped from pushing that propaganda. Further, citizens should be allowed to choose which pain remedy they use, not the government, especially when cannabis is safer than any other pain medication available to humans. It seems the author is more interested in furthering government cannabis prohibition propaganda than getting facts correct. Truthfully, Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
