STUDENTS MEET FOR MARIJUANA REFORM

Stuffing a brownie in his mouth in front of the Classroom Building
yesterday, Andy Barnes realized the message on his shirt contradicted
his cause.

The undecided freshman, who openly admits to smoking marijuana, was
wearing an old D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) t-shirt.

"I guess I didn't think about this (event) before I put it on," he
said.

Barnes and about 30 students advocating the legalization of marijuana
gathered in front of the Classroom Building yesterday to promote UK's
chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws
(NORML). The group, which was established at UK two years ago, handed
out information pamphlets about marijuana laws and brownies.

Barnes, who supports the legalization of marijuana, believes smoking
the drug is harmless.

"People say it's a gateway to other drugs," he said. "But it just
depends on the person."

Gatewood Galbraith, the speaker of the event, encouraged students to
exercise their Constitutional right to question the standing cannabis
laws in Kentucky. Galbraith, a Kentucky politician and lawyer,
supports the medical use of marijuana, the hemp industry and an
individual's right to possess marijuana.

"Resistance is what gives the Constitution life," he said. "And the
War on Drugs is a war against the people."

According to the Marijuana Policy Project, Americans pay about $12
billion a year for the government's "War on Marijuana" campaign. A
2002 poll by CNN and Time Magazine reported that 72 percent of
Americans believe people who use marijuana should not be jailed and 80
percent support medicinal marijuana.

Galbraith, who urged students to vote for him in the 2007
gubernatorial election, vowed to push the decriminalization of
marijuana. He thinks the public will benefit from marijuana as a
resource and treatment for those suffering from disease.

"I am trying to get marijuana into the hospitals to the sick and dying
people," he said.

Will Mattingly, president of NORML at UK, said the purpose of the
rally was to spread the "truths" about marijuana.

"We want to separate fact from fiction," he said. "Mainly, we are
trying to inform the community on the benefits of hemp."

Mattingly, a civil engineering senior, stressed that 12 states have
already legalized the medical use of marijuana. NORML is collecting
signatures for a petition that would send the issue of marijuana
legalization to the Kentucky legislature.

Stephan Bayne, an arts administration freshman, signed the
petition.

"There's more pros than cons to legalizing it," he said. "It's just
logical."