POT LEGALITY PROBLEM IS NATIONWIDE

As a student leader in a different state with a different set of
problems, I find Megan Maizel's conclusion that changing the
sanctions for marijuana possession would amount to a "mockery [of the
law]" to be counterintuitive.

It strikes me that the mockery comes from the fact that government
has assumed the authority to punish people for possessing and using a
drug. This is clearly not the legitimate role of a government that
respects liberty, whether this government takes the form of a nation,
a state or a university.

The fact that marijuana is illegal should not mean that the injustice
created by its prohibition needs to be codified by every level of
government everywhere. In fact, many local and state governments have
in one fashion or another rejected parts of the federal law which
unconditionally prohibits marijuana.

I must say that your student body serves as a model for others around
the nation in that it has communicated clearly what should be done in
a specific matter of policy at the university. I think most student
leaders would say this policy must be implemented immediately if the
administration of your school wants to continue to be taken seriously.

Justin Holmes

President

SUNY New Paltz Student Association