GOLDEN RULE REVIEW COMMITTEE STALEMATE POSTPONES POT PROPOSAL

As a result of a stalemate 3-3-1 vote Tuesday, the final decision on
a proposal that would equalize university penalties for marijuana and
alcohol offenses has been pushed back to spring 2009.

"We are not trying to promote drug use with this proposal," said UCF
Student Senator Brendon Rivard, "but to discourage irresponsible
drinking. Alcohol is more dangerous than weed, and by making the
penalties more severe for marijuana offenders, we are implicitly
stating that it's OK to use the more dangerous substance."

At a meeting on Tuesday, Rivard presented to the Golden Rule Review
Committee a proposal that would change the current Golden Rule
statutes regarding marijuana policy at UCF.

If enacted, the new policy would reduce the penalties for first and
second time misdemeanor marijuana possession and paraphernalia
charges to the same level as the penalties currently in place
regarding alcohol offenses, such as drinking on campus and underage drinking.

The equalization proposal would establish a three-strike policy for
marijuana offenders. The first offense would come with the minimum
drug education class and up to one semester of academic probation,
the second offense would mandate a drug class and up to two semesters
probation and the third offense could result in suspension for two
semesters with the possibility of expulsion.

As it stands, the proposal only covers paraphernalia charges and
possession charges of less than 14 grams, and would be in addition to
any criminal charges at the state and local level.

Further, Rivard said that it would not cover possession of hard drugs
such as heroin and amphetamines, and it would only apply to
misdemeanor possession charges with no relating aggravating
circumstances, such as assault or burglary.

"I think the logic and sensibility behind this proposed policy is
undeniable," Rivard said.

And a majority of UCF's voting students agree. In February, with the
help of the Colorado-based SAFER organization, the equalization
measure was put to a referendum during Student Government Association
elections. It passed with 57 percent.

The proposal garnered further support through endorsements by nine
organizations, including the UCF Knights for Liberty, Code Pink, and
the Future.

"The fact is, we got almost 60 percent on this back in February,"
said Mason Tvert, the co-founder and executive director of SAFER,
which stands for Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation. "We
helped to get it started, but we are really just about trying to
spark the debate. This recent referendum demonstrated that the
students at UCF are passionate and involved, and want to take this
proposal and try to get policy changed."

"Students see daily the harms associated with alcohol - the fights,
the alcohol poisoning, the car accidents - and they shouldn't be
penalized for making the safer decision," he said.

SAFER's stated mission is to work to educate the public, specifically
college students, about the relative safety of marijuana compared to
alcohol and to advocate more evenhanded marijuana policies on college campuses.

Though the equalization proposal will likely pass with its major
provisions intact, the Golden Rule Review Committee stills feels that
a number of technicalities and specifics need to be worked out.

Madam Chair Ida Lattorre said that the committee was not ready to,
and could not responsibly vote decisively on, the measure without
further debate and possibilities for amendments.

Members of the committee had not received the proposal until just
more than a week before the meeting, while the task force assigned to
drafting the proposal and the Student Senate both had months to
review the original referendum.

"This is the first time we have had this debate in this committee,
and there are a number of things to clarify," Lattorre said. "For one
thing, we need to figure out how to penalize offending students who
are already on probation under the Golden Rule for things other than
minor substance abuse."

Other features of the proposal at issue were the amount of marijuana
a student could possess to qualify for equalized punishment, the
process by which the penalties would be enacted and the vague
language in some sections of the proposal.

At the end of the discussion, with time having well run out, a motion
to table the equalization proposal by Lattorre was struck down, and
it went to a vote.

The vote tied 3-3-1, and the Golden Rule Review Committee has
scheduled a new debate and vote for January. The exact date has yet
to be decided, but it will be posted on the committee's Web site once
it is set.

The Golden Rule Review Committee hopes to use the coming months to
deliberate and amend further Rivard's proposal, which is expected to
pass at January's meeting.

"I think the amendments that they made and want to make are wise
amendments," Rivard said. "And I will work with them to push this
measure as much as possible until students stop being sanctioned for
making the safer decision."