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Show Signpost-Tuesday, May 8, 1984 5 Smoking Marijuana Should Be An Individual's Own Decision by Bill Conlon Guest Editorial Prohibition was repealed in 1933, but the lessons were lost between then and now. We still throw people in jail Letters... Candidate Defends Campaign Debate To the Editor: In Friday's Signpost an editorial appeared by Rae Dawn Olbert, "Candidate Debate is Waste of Time." In her article she accused many of the candidates of having the idea that "ASWSC elections are little more than a popularity contest" and not being able to "speak for much more than one minute, let alone the alloted time of two minutes." As a candidate in that debate, I would like to ask Miss Olbert a few questions. First, why didn't she ask any questions or argue that she wanted more time? One student did. He was heard and answered. Second, how can a person put a full year of goals into two minutes and not be vague? If all the candidates were to list and explain their ideas we might have been there all day. Third, if Miss Olbert is so concerned about ASWSC then where is her name appearing as candidate? In response to running a high school popularity contest I need to remind Miss Olbert that only five percent of the studentbody votes. As a candidate, I take these elections very seriously, or why would I spend personal money to campaign?Nothing bothers me more, as a student and a candidate, than to listen to people gripe and complain about problems, then offer no proposals or help to solve them. At least we as candidates have the guts enough to want to try. Randy Noorlander Executive V.P. Candidate Editorial Too Harsh To the Editor: In response to Rae Dawn Olbert's editorial dated Friday, May 4, 1984. I feel that our managing editor was a little harsh on our so called "debate." The Signpost staff reporters should take a little more time to find out what will be happening before they write up a story. My purpose in gathering the candidates together was to give the students of Weber State an opportunity to see and hear all the candidates. I feel our managing editor was expecting much more than she obviously got. I don't feel that it was a waste of time. I also hope that next year's Election Chairman does a better job. Gordon Chatland Election Chairman - 1984 for what amounts to a social problem. Nothing has changed. Marijuana today has alot in common with booze during Prohibition. Baggies and backyard plants have replaced hip flasks and bathtub gin, but the parallel doesn't stop there. Millions of Americans are now criminals, without hurting anyone but themselves -just like Prohibition. Millions of pot smokers? Yup. A report to Congress in 1975 told of an estimated 26 million who had at least tasted the weed, and fully half that who got high regularly. It's probably closer to 20 million regulars by now. Having a joint with the evening news is more common in many homes than having a beer. Yes, many Ogden homes, too. Guest Editorial These people treat pot just like alcohol -there is a right time and a wrong time. And they are not strung-put fanatics. Many of them wear suits to work, even ties. They realize they are breaking the law, but they enjoy reefer, period. Note the use of "enjoy" instead of "need." Marijuana is less addictive than alcohol -which a trip through any inner city will confirm. Those are wine bottles in the alleys, not roach clips. Cigarettes too are addictive. But only pot is called a drug, and therefore results in severe periods of isolative behavior known as jail. The FBI reported half a million pot-related arrests last year. Of those, 81 percent had no previous criminal record. They do now. '- Like the young man in Texas who was sentenced to 20 years for selling less than a tablespoon of pot to an undercover cop. Or the 18-year-old who was sent up for twelve years for $5 worth of smoke. Killers get off easier, and they hurt people. Judges like to make examples of "pushers" like these. The FBI estimates that 76,000 tons of pot were consumed last year in America. Supplying that demand doesn't take a pusher, just a provider. Most dealers work for a reasonable margin they are just trying to make ends meet, not buy guns for terrorists. But possession is another matter entirely. Police in many states admit r The Ogden L.D.S. Institute presents: HORIZONS IN THOUGHT Friday, May 11, 12:00 Noon Phyllis Dixon Shaw, 1984 Utah Mother Of The Year. Institute Chapel 1302 Edvalson Horizons in Thought is a weekly Series Featuring outstanding speakers. Plan on attending each week. - there are too many consumers to try and nail them all. Eight states, in fact, have made simple possesion a civiloffense-punishable by a $100 maximum fine and no jail time. Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon and South Dakota now write out tickets for amounts under an ounce. Guest Editorial As of press time there were no reports of wild-eyed dope smokers rampaging through Rapid City, South Dakota. Likewise, there have been no dramatic increases in marijuana usage reported in the above eight states. (Incidently, Alaska allows the cultivation of cannabis for personal consumption -the only state to do so). During Prohibition, Congress debated legalizing beer in order to tax it to reduce the federal budget deficit. If the same thing were done with pot today, the results could be dramatic. Those 76,000 tons of pot last year work out to about 2.5 billion ounces. (The legendary $10 ounce of the early '70's now runs about $120 or $30 a quarter). Say six billion quarter ounces. Taxed at $5 a quarter, that starts to look like real money. Add to that the $600 million spent on pot en forcement last year, and you get a feel for how much the government islosing-most of it to the underground economy. But the whole purpose of this article is not to promote pot smoking quite the contrary. Pot, like alcohol and cigarettes, is unhealthy. But the use of pot should be an adult decision, with adult penalties for abuse. Driving under the influence should remain illegal and immoral whatever the drug. Likewise, children should have no more access to smoke than they presently have to alcohol. But pot smoking is not an adult decision -it is a criminal one. That should be changed. Tell Congress. Perhaps Rep. James M. Beck of Pennsylvania summed it up best when he made this speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Represntatives: "I would like to know how many American criminals you are going to make of otherwise self-respecting citizens before you can enforce a statute which . . . has proved ineffective to change the primary instinct of individual liberty that is in the human breast of the average American." The sad part is that Rep. Beck made this speech in 1931, addressing Prohibition. Read the quote again: nothing has changed. Quality. It's as important in diamonds as in anything else you own. There's more to a diamond than meets the eye. And to understand the differences between diamonds is to understand the 4C's-Cut, Color, Clarity and Carot-weight. It's these 4C's that determine the value of a diamond. The differences between diamonds are subtle indeed. But to people of discriminating taste, it's quality that makes all the difference, Quality. It's unmistakable. 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