CROWD PACKS STETSON CHAPEL FOR MARIJUANA DEBATE

DELAND -- Only at The Great Debate: Heads vs. Feds could an announcer
warn -- "Remember, no lighting up."

About 700 people poured into the Elizabeth Hall Chapel at Stetson
University on Wednesday night for the great debate that pitted Bob
Stutman, a retired Drug Enforcement Agency agent, against Steven
Hager, former editor of High Times magazine.

The event put on by the Stetson Council of Student Activities drew so
much attention that the two-story chapel was packed upstairs and
downstairs with people lining the back walls and sitting in the aisles.

Marijuana -- which has been used by humans for more than 4,000 years
- -- remains the most popular of illegal drugs, according to the federal
government's 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Despite the
rise of club drugs and pharmaceuticals among today's college students,
more than half of the 19.7 million people who used illicit drugs in
the month before the survey said they used marijuana
exclusively.

There has long been a debate about benefits and disadvantages of
legalizing the drug, and Wednesday night the debate was brought to
Stetson.

Hager kicked things off by pointing out five reasons why marijuana
should be legalized -- from "it's good medicine" to "it's a sacrament"
to his "hippie" culture.

"Saying that there are no major medical benefits to marijuana is
standing in a major hurricane and having the American government tell
you wind ain't blowing," he said.

Stutman countered that it would create more accidents and that about
14 percent of people who use it become dependent on the drug.

He compared the legalization of marijuana to the 21st Amendment, which
lifted the prohibition on alcohol in 1933, and said there are
currently 170 million people consuming alcohol and 14 million people
using marijuana.

"If we legalized it, we would have far more users," Stutman
said.

There were even a few friendly jabs between the speakers, with Hager
inviting Stutman to a Cannabis Club celebration in Amsterdam, while
pointing out some of the feel-good side effects of the drug. Stutman
declined.

As for which side the crowd was on -- let's just say there were lots
of cheers when Hager was introduced and when he spoke.