4/20 RAISES MARIJUANA AWARENESS, ETHICAL QUESTIONS

Students for a Safe Drug Policy saw April 20 as an opportunity to
discuss the issues surrounding the prohibition of marijuana.

Today at 4:20 p.m., a massive smoke cloud formed above Foss Hill, as
well as above college campuses and public parks across the nation, in
a yearly tradition that is both a celebration of marijuana and a
political statement promoting its legalization. Although many
students use this holiday as an excuse to blaze all day, for members
of Students for a Safe Drug Policy (SSDP), April 20 is an opportunity
to raise awareness for the greater problems surrounding the
prohibition of marijuana.

"On a day like four-twenty we need to realize that all the marijuana
going up in smoke is contributing to violence abroad," said Paul
Blasenheim '12, member of SSDP. "We have hundreds of students sitting
on the hill and nothing more than tens of thousands of mostly low
income and people of color in jail who have done nothing different.
If we were all smoking six blocks from the hill, we'd end up in jail."

With a recent increase in killings and raids in Mexico during the
ongoing drug war, it may be worth considering where the marijuana on
campus originates.

"Seventy percent of revenue that drug cartels in Mexico make come
from sale of marijuana in the United States," Blasenheim said.
"18,000 murders have taken place since the early 2000s. All the money
that goes to fund those guns come from sales within the United States."

Although it can be difficult to trace where a bag of marijuana
originated from due to the many steps between the farm and the final
buyer, most dealers on campus believe their product is grown within
the United States.

"Mostly California. I also do get it from some organic growers in
Massachusetts," said anonymous '11. "I'm pretty confidant it's not
from Mexico. Mine comes from someone I've met in California. It
started as a small mom-and-pop operation that grew into a larger
scale production within the past ten years."

Another student said that he is fairly certain his product is grown
in New York, although he is not completely sure. One dealer said his
supply is grown in Massachusetts and Vermont, occasionally coming
south from Canada. Another said his marijuana comes straight from
California where it is grown indoors, but Blasenheim is not buying it.

"One of the main problems with marijuana prohibition is that users
really have no idea where their drugs are coming from or their own
complicity with the Mexican drug wars," he said. "The only time you
can ethically buy weed is if you are buying it from the grower."

To bypass any ethical quandaries, some students buy from a local
Middletown resident who grows marijuana. For most dealers, economic
issues take precedent over ethical ones.

Students become drug dealers for a variety of reasons, from wanting
to make money to being able to smoke for free. For others, the
quality of the product is what matters the most.

"The main reason that I deal is that no weed here is as good as at
home [California]," said one dealer '12. "If I'm shipping it to
myself I need to at least be able to make money to cover my costs."

For others, the price of marijuana on campus is the key issue.

"I deal weed because I want to provide pot for a good price," said
another anonymous dealer '11. "I was fortunate to grow up with people
who gave me good deals. I wanted to provide the same to Wesleyan
students. Weed on campus is ridiculously expensive."

Another student said, "I started dealing to maintain my own smoking.
Now I do it because someone needs to sell it and I feel like I do it
in a way as non-sketchy as possible. I don't like the average drug
deal experience."

With the recent decriminalization of marijuana in some states and
legalization of medical marijuana in others, talk of legalization and
taxation has gained traction as a potential source of funding for
cash-strapped state governments. Yet this would be a large step for
the federal government to make after years of focusing its efforts on
an anti-drug policy.

Despite the many obstacles, Blasenheim believes that within ten years
marijuana will be completely legalized.

"If weed were legalized you would probably be able to buy it at Neon
Deli," Blasenheim said. "It would be sold like tobacco. It would be
sold and packaged with a Surgeon General warning that would require
you to be over 21."