WAR ON DRUGS: NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT ON MARIJUANA

Last year marked the largest number of marijuana arrests in U.S.
history, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Of the 786,545 citizens arrested, 88 percent were charged with possession only.

"This should call us to question the amount of money we're putting
into the drug war," Clark C. Anderson, Appalachian State University
American Civil Liberties Union President, said. "It's still easy to
find drugs. The drug war is unsuccessful."

The United States has seen a gradual increase in marijuana arrests
every year since the 1980s, Kris Krane, executive director of
Students for a Sensible Drug Policy in Washington, D.C., said.

This is likely because the United States is spending more money on
police and marijuana violations are fairly easy to go after, Krane said.

Krane, an American University graduate, wrote his honors thesis on
the war on drugs. He found that the war is "a massive failure that
creates racial inequalities."

SSDP is "dedicated to seeking alternatives to failed drug policies,"
Krane said. The most failed is marijuana prohibition, because the
substance is "not harmless, its risks are not any greater than
alcohol and tobacco."

In light of the increasing number of marijuana possession arrests,
critics of the drug war question why so much emphasis is put on
punishing marijuana offenders.

"There is too much emphasis on punishment and prison," SSDP
Campaigns Director Tom J. Angell said. "We see drug issues as health
issues with an emphasis on education and health, not handcuffs and jail cells."

According to the U.S. Federal Government, there have been no known
cases of death from overdosing on marijuana.

According to Rutgers University Center for Alcohol Study, 50,000
cases of alcohol poisoning are reported each year and someone dies
from it about once a week.

Society practices drug discrimination, Lisa A. Curtin, psychology
professor and substance abuse researcher said.

Curtin, agreeing with Krane, said, "Most harm in the country is
caused by our two legal drugs: alcohol and tobacco."

Goals of Appalachian groups supporting marijuana education, such as
Help End Marijuana Prohibition and National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Law, are often misunderstood.

However, according to the Lee H. McCaskey Center for Student
Involvement and Leadership Assistant Director Kim L. Mitchell, HEMP
is the most asked about organization on campus.

At a president's breakfast, Chancellor Kenneth E. Peacock asked
HEMP/NORML President Josh C. Kleinstreuer, "So, is your club about
drugs?" Kleinstreuer said.

Many students have asked him if HEMP/NORML members "are just a bunch
of hippies who sit around and smoke pot," he said.

Appalachian's HEMP/NORML works for similar regulations for both
alcohol and marijuana, opposes marijuana prohibition, and represents
the interests of the tens of millions of Americans who smoke
marijuana responsibly, Kleinstreuer said.

Kleinstreuer said he thinks marijuana legalization can happen with
the current generation.

"As homosexuals come out of the closet, pot smokers have to come out
of the closet and face scrutiny," Kleinstreuer said.

He said some professors told him in confidence they would support
HEMP/NORML's cause, but are afraid of losing their jobs.

Student interest in HEMP/NORML is growing. There are currently around
30 members. Kleinstreuer, a cannabis consumer, said it's faulty to
assume that marijuana users are bad students.

"I'm a dean's list student," he said. "There is a social stigma that
people who use cannabis are deadbeats."