DRUG PUNISHMENTS AT UCF MAY CHANGE

A student caught with marijuana at the University of Central Florida
could suffer the same punishment as one caught drinking underage if
the Student Government Association succeeds in a request to revise the
student code of conduct.

Such a rule change wouldn't affect criminal penalties, only campus
censure of student violators.

"We do not want to endorse weed; we just want it to be treated as
alcohol, in which possession is a misdemeanor," said Andrew Cadieux,
president of Students for Sensible Drug Policies, one of two student
groups pushing the policy change.

Cadieux, a former resident assistant in a campus dormitory, said that
standard policy in dormitories is to call the police if marijuana
possession is suspected of a resident. The result is punishment both
by the state and the school. By contrast, students younger than 21
caught drinking are made to dispose of the alcohol and reported.

A 58-percent majority of UCF students voted last year to support the
marijuana policy change, allowing the student government to request a
change to the school's "Golden Rule" student code, a change requiring
approval by the Golden Rule Review Committee. If a majority of that
committee approves the change, they forward it to the UCF
administration for final approval. That committee had voted just last
month on the same matter, tying 3-3 with one student member absent.
The student government is making a new request, hoping for a majority
vote in favor of the change.

UCF isn't alone in pushing for leniency with marijuana policies. The
University of Colorado at Boulder has already equalized punishment for
students violating marijuana and alcohol rules.

The national marijuana advocacy group Safer Alternative For Enjoyable
Recreation - SAFER - promotes research indicating that marijuana
causes less dependence and intoxication than alcohol.

"If school catches you with pot, you lose all financial aid," said
Travis Sturgill-Trahan, a finance major. "Being in the dorms, I've
seen friends get much more in trouble if they were caught with weed
than if they were caught with alcohol.

"With alcohol you only get slaps on the wrist because you get many
chances."

Two student marijuana-advocacy groups are pushing for UCF's drug
policy change: the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws - NORML - and Students for Sensible Drug Policies.

Brendon Rivard, president of NORML at UCF, says current drug policy
puts students at greater risk. "If you are caught with pot you will
lose your housing contract, you would be on academic probation, which
puts holds in your account, and you will lose all financial aid and
not be able to apply for them anymore," said Rivard, who is also the
SGA director of student advocacy. By punishing students more heavily
for marijuana use, "we are driving students to drink alcohol, which is
extremely dangerous," Rivard said.

Some UCF students still have concerns about the legality of marijuana,
such as Alex Cruz, a molecular biology and microbiology major.
"Although alcohol may or may not have side effects that are as
powerful as marijuana, marijuana is still an illegal drug by federal
standards and the penalties should be held to those standards," Cruz
said.

Criminal justice major Gaby Guevara said the proposal could help lower
alcohol consumption on campuses, but "still, marijuana is an illegal
drug," she said, "There should be a trial period to see how it works."

Changing UCF's marijuana stance would be a big step for NORML, whose
ultimate goal is to legalize marijuana in the United States. "We want
the consumption to be regulated," Rivard said, "in order to
decriminalize and start being safer."

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PUNISHMENTS

Caught with marijuana: Reported to police and the
university

Caught underage with alcohol: Reported to university and
alcohol seized

Proposed change: Make marijuana penalty the same as
alcohol's