Show Students vote to reduce penalties for pot possession Susan Kinzie The 76 Washington Post University of Maryland students celebrated celebrated celebrated cele cele- student government election results Thursday with a bottle of bubbly nonalcoholic of course and a freshman freshman freshman fresh fresh- man broke into a mellow sort of victory dance Not only had they elected new student leaders but nearly two-thirds two of the undergraduates who voted endorsed a referendum to reduce penalties for students students students stu stu- stu- stu dents caught with marijuana so that they would be treated the same as alcohol violations violations violations vio vio- vio- vio lations a result with much symbolic weight but no actual power to change the schools school's policies We are pumped said senior and campaign activist Damien Nichols Thursday afternoon wearing a black suit and a party organically T-shirt T with a pot leaf The students have spoken Not all the students not even of the more than undergraduates voted on the student government association association association election ballot question The university's vice president for student student student stu stu- stu- stu dent affairs said the administration takes any strong message from student elections elections elections elec elec- very seriously But she doesn't think the school will be able to treat drug and alcohol violations the same way Youve got to look at these two issues differently Linda Clement said because marijuana can bring harder I R 7 f f t r f I Al J c I J f A JJ A I if 1 w f 1 I I J t ot J it ri n I f ft I If aL' aL J t f Y l drugs dealers and crime Our campus police believe very strongly that drug activity attracts people to the campus who are dangerous The vote comes just as the school which has enjoyed a growing national reputation for its academics in recent years also is fighting off the bad publicity public public- ity that student riots have brought Last week drunken students celebrated the women's basketball j. j national championship win by setting fires and shaking buses in College Park U is the fifth university in the country to pass a referendum like this 1 Pot Possession Cont on Page 6 1 t 1 Pot Possession Cont from Page 2 part of a year-old year campaign to promote marijuana na as a safer alternative to alcohol Steve Fox executive director of Safer Alternative ve for Enjoyable Recreation on cites statistics statistics sta sta- sta- sta on all sorts of awful things that happen to enormous numbers of college students as a result of drinking deaths injuries sexual assaults The SAFER campaign started at the University of Colorado and Colorado State Stater r University ity after yo two stu students l died after drink drink- g i ing This year two other schools the University of Texas and Florida State University passed similar referendums And none of those schools have changed their policies Gwendolyn Dungy executive ve director of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators laughed when she heard about the vote She doesn't know of any college in the country that treats treats' drug and alcohol violations the same mostly because of the law she said because unlike smoking marijuana drinking is legal after 21 Many on campus hadn't heard about the ballot question Some were shocked when they did I think its it's absolutely ridiculous if youre you're at college and youre you're smoking marijuana na freshman Dane Friedman said He thinks the referendum results could hurt g the schools school's image and the atmosphere on campus campus campus cam cam- pus if students start thinking they can get away with smoking up all the time College administrators across the country have been trying for decades to find solutions to the sometimes ridiculous sometimes annoying sometimes tragic problems that drinking and drugs bring to campus Smoke-ins Smoke at U in the gave way in inthe inthe inthe the to a much stricter policy put in place after basketball star Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose That's when administrators set the rules in place today which John Zacker of the university's student misconduct office said are areg mor mores Owl severe eyere th than than n U ma Ak f I s schools 1 w h Students caught with rugs drugs at U face a year one-year suspension depending on the circumstances circumstances circumstances circum circum- stances and those who live in campus housing almost always are forced to move out he said The university does offer some alternatives including education and ongoing drug testing rather than suspension to give students with minor offenses a chance to learn from mistakes Students are much less likely to get suspended suspend suspend- ed or to lose housing for alcohol violations Zacker said Those who do often have other vio vio- vio- vio lations along with drinking The school with about students has ha hundreds of liquor violations every year and fewer than drug violations he said Nichols and Victor Pinho a fellow advocate are part of the generation that grew up with the war on drugs and DARE classes And they see it as a moral issue The average marijuana user does not have havethe havethe havethe the impetus to stand on a sofa and scream Legalize marijuana said Nichols a government government government govern govern- ment and politics major from Bowie Md who like Pinho has a job lined up when he graduates this spring Its easier to live their life and do doth their th q p I. I 9 y i Hd nl oJ to to 0 t i L J 10 Tot lol ur Not Not Nth him II he M and Pinho j inho w who head j s w t It I rt the U chapters of Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Na National opal Organization for forthe forthe the Reform of Marijuana Laws came together blew it up made it public gave it legs They spent the beginning of this week tooling around campus in a decorated campaign golf cart to get out the vote offering students rides hemp bracelets and propaganda Pinho said this is just the beginning Next stop he said the White House |