THINK BEFORE YOU SMOKE

Let me get my MJ stance out of the way first: We should loosen our
regulations on marijuana and study it more. The problem today is
because marijuana is a controlled, dangerous substance, only the
government can do research on it. Thus, their research will be
biased. So it's a cycle of abuse that usually ends in a stalemate. I
would much prefer to deal with a stoner than a drunkard, because
alcohol is a depressant and cannabis is a non-addictive, mild
hallucinogen. It's insane the government states cannabis makes you aggressive.

But the fact still stands: Today, it's illegal.

If you thought that just because yesterday was 4/20 the police were
going to cut you a break, you were dead wrong. They were out in force
last night. Instead of pulling traffic on Route 193, they were all
around the campus looking for stoners.

If you're caught smoking marijuana, the police will arrest you and
send you to jail for the night. If you plan on coming back to the
campus after being kicked out of housing for a year, you will be in a
horrible priority bracket. If you are arrested for drug possession,
most jobs will toss your resume in the trash. If you are looking to
go into law enforcement (criminology majors), many employers have
very, very strict regulations for drug usage. Many law enforcement
agencies require you to not smoke pot for five years before you apply
- - remember, this comes up in the polygraph test, so you can't just
lie about it.

My point? If you're going to smoke, just don't get caught - go smoke
off the campus. Don't screw your life up because of one day.

Blake Smith

Junior

Criminology and criminal justice