MASH CHALLENGES CAMPUS TO CHANGE DRUG USE POLICIES

In a world where the "war on drugs" is a highly politically motivated
issue, Mobilizing Activists and Students for Hemp, is working to
educate the public about the cannabis plant and to change unjust laws
prohibiting the use of industrial hemp and medical marijuana.

According to MASH president and senior telecommunications management
major, Lawson Cassels, the organization began in 2001. It has
continued to expand its membership and its purpose as time has passed.

"We're actually in a transitional period at the moment," Cassels
said. "We're in the process of becoming a local chapter of Students
for Sensible Drug Policy."

SSDP is a national organization that has recently and notably filed a
federal lawsuit. It is challenging the constitutionality of the law
that automatically strips financial aid from any college student with
any drug conviction, including misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

"What's unjust about this law is that it doesn't apply to other
convictions that are considerably worse; like rape," MASH faculty
advisor and assistant to the Dean of the College of Fine Arts, Peter
Guither, said.

Guither was recently featured in a Chicago Tribune article entitled
"War-on-drugs exhibition starts free-speech battle-Museum, activist
clash over pamphlets."

According to the article, when an exhibition sponsored by the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration opened at the Museum of Science and
Industry in August, Guither showed up with a sack full of pamphlets
denouncing the government's anti-narcotics strategy.

"I used to practically live in that museum," he said. 'I didn't like
seeing it perverted into an infomercial for the DEA."

MASH is an extremely active on-campus group with the short term goal
of changing the way campus policy deals with underage drinking and
marijuana offenses.

"Currently, if a student is caught on-campus with marijuana, the
punishment is much more severe than a student caught drinking
underage even though scientific research has shown us that marijuana
is much less harmful than alcohol," Cassels said.

Cassels and Guither agreed that MASH has had few problems with the
university and have in fact been unable to find anyone willing to
argue against them in a public debate.

"We would love to have someone argue with us," Cassels said. "But the
truth is that scientific fact is on our side and most people are
receptive to our message."

In November MASH will be taking about 15 students as well as several
activist community members to a national convention in Washington DC.
The convention is dedicated to educating the public about medical
marijuana and changing campus drug policies.

Also on Nov. 30, MASH will host their bi-annual Hemp Fest in the
Bowling and Billiards Center. Hemp Fest features bands, speakers,
hemp jewelry making and is an event dedicated to raising student awareness.

"We try to remain active on campus and are hoping to bring in bigger
bands and host larger events, more visible events," Cassels said.

MASH meets every Wednesday in Schroeder Hall and later this semester,
plans on hosting a letter writing session to congressional state
representatives about the current drug policies.

"What we want to do is educate the public and make people aware of
their rights," Guither said. "Change can only happen when people are
educated and aware. Only when popular opinion changes and people
start getting active in the issue will political opinion and policy
changes happen."