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Marijuana:
University
of
Maryland
Students
Vote
to
Equalize
Marijuana,
Alcohol
Penalties
4/21/06
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/432/umdvote.shtml
The University of Maryland
is the latest school to vote to equalize the campus penalties for alcohol
and marijuana. Undergraduate students there approved the measure
by a margin of 65% to 35% after a campaign led by the campus chapters of
Students
for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) and the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). The campaign,
begun last year by Safer
Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) at the University of Colorado
and Colorado State University has also seen victories this year at the
University of Texas and Florida State University. No campus has voted
down a SAFER referendum.
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| University of Maryland |
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Colleges and universities
across the country typically punish marijuana infractions more severely
than alcohol infractions by underage students. Maryland has one of
the most severe policies, with pot smokers facing a one-year suspension
and being thrown out of university housing. But the SAFER campaign
argues that marijuana is safer than alcohol and students should not face
more severe penalties for using a substance less likely to harm them or
others.
The referenda are only symbolic;
they express the will of the student body, but college administrators are
not bound to act on them, and so far, none have. Early indications
are Maryland will be no different. Vice President for Student Affairs
Linda Clement told the Washington Post after the vote she didn't think
the school could equalize penalties. "You've got to look at these
two issues differently," she said, because marijuana can bring harder drugs,
dealers and crime. "Our campus police believe very strongly that
drug activity attracts people to the campus who are dangerous."
Those would, one supposes,
be different people from the drunken student mobs who regularly riot after
significant athletic victories. Last week, those drunk students set
fires and shook buses in College Park after the university women's basketball
team won the national championship.
-- END --
|
Issue #432
-- 4/21/06
Feature:
In
Colombia,
The
More
They
Spray,
The
More
They
Grow
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Feature:
If
It's
4/20,
It
Must
Be
NORML:
Annual
Conference
Gets
Underway
In
San
Francisco
|
Feature:
Million
Marijuana
Marches
Loom,
As
Do
Perennial
Questions
About
Their
Utility
|
Offer:
Important
New
Legalization
Video
Available
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Feedback:
Do
You
Read
Drug
War
Chronicle?
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Law
Enforcement:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
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Marijuana:
Alaska
House
Rejects
Recriminalization
Bill
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Marijuana:
University
of
Maryland
Students
Vote
to
Equalize
Marijuana,
Alcohol
Penalties
|
Medical
Marijuana:
FDA
Rejecting
Marijuana
as
Medicine
Draws
Scientific
Criticism
|
Psychedelics:
Leading
Medical
Journal
Calls
for
More
LSD
in
Research
Labs
|
Africa:
Mozambique
Official
Rejects
Calls
to
Destroy
Farmers'
Marijuana
Crops
|
Caribbean:
Bermuda
Drug
Chief
Leans
Toward
Downgrading
Marijuana
Offenses
|
Errata:
Drugged
Driving
|
Drugged
Driving:
The
State
of
the
Research
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Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
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