STUDENTS ROLL OUT FOR HIGH TIMES PUBLISHER

There wasn't an empty seat in the Key West Ballroom of the Student Union
on Wednesday.

The UCF chapter of the National Organization For Marijuana Reform Law held
their weekly meeting with special guest speaker Rick Cusick, Associate
Publisher of High Times magazine.

Cusick, who has spoken at UCF on behalf of NORML previously, returned to
captivate and educate students on marijuana reform law.

In addition to being the associate publisher of High Times, Cusick is also
a NORML board member in his home state of New Jersey.

"It's important for me to connect to young people, because you are the
generation that will make the change, and the most change happens right
here on college campuses. You are the most energized group of college
students," Cusick said.

Mike Maingot, a senior and UCF NORML member who is majoring in criminal
justice and legal studies, saw Cusick last time he spoke at UCF.

"I came to see Rick again because not only is he extremely knowledgeable,
but he's a funny and entertaining guy who has a lot of war stories,"
Maingot said.

One of those war stories involved a rally that led to Cusick's arrest and
eventual Supreme Court battle.

"I was arrested at the Boston Freedom Rally with Keith Stroup a few years
ago for having half a joint. They tried to push for jail time and
thousands of dollars in fines," Cusick said. Stroup, the founder of NORML,
and Cusick decided to fight back and are taking it all the way to the
Massachusetts Supreme Court.

They are still involved in the litigation but are working to decriminalize
marijuana and minimize current possession laws.

High Times has been working with NORML since the magazine's inception in
the 1970s. Cusick travels around talking to students at college campuses
nationwide.

"It's not about getting stoned, it's about really sick people getting the
help they deserve, and innocent people not going to jail. Your generation
understands that, your generation will be the ones to make that change,"
Cusick said.

He also talked about the importance of young people getting involved in
the push for the decriminalization of marijuana.

"It's no longer my fight, it's yours. Now it's actually happening, young
people are doing things smartly. My generation dropped the ball, yours
picked it back up," he said. NORML became affiliated with UCF in 2001.

Since that time, the organization has worked to create awareness about
marijuana laws and also generate reform.

"Our goal is to educate the masses," said Tyler Smith, a junior political
science major and president of NORML's UCF chapter. "Sometimes our
generation has a tendency to give in to apathy, but our goal is to get
students involved in political procedure and take part in something that
is meaningful to them."

NORML meets every Wednesday at 9 p.m. in the Key West Ballroom.