STUDENT GROUP PETITIONS FOR LEGALIZED MARIJUANA

A West Virginia University student organization is collecting
signatures for a petition in support of legalizing marijuana in the
country.

The Students for Sensible Drug Policy have joined in a movement across
college campuses in support of Proposition 19, California's
legalization measure being voted on in November.

Drew Stromberg, president of WVU's SSDP chapter, said his group has
joined a challenge called, "Just Say Now Campus Challenge: Legalize Marijuana."

The aim of the challenge is to collect signatures in support of
legalization of marijuana, Stromberg said.

The signatures will be sent to President Barack Obama to let him know
how popular the issue is, he said. More than 1,000 college chapters
are participating.

"This gives students a chance to participate in what's going to be
happening in California in November," Stromberg said. "Even though we
are not in California, we can still have an effect and influence on
it."

If passed, the proposition would allow the government to tax the sale
of marijuana in California. The measure could set a precedence in how
other states deal with the legalization of marijuana, he said.

The campus challenge has only been going on for a few weeks now, but
WVU does not have many signatures so far.

SSDP will be holding awareness events throughout the semester to get
signatures for their petition, said Justin Lawrence, business liaison
and promotions manager of WVU's SSDP.

This past weekend, SSDP held its first event at the Fletcher's Grove
concert at 123 Pleasant Street on Saturday night, Lawrence said.

"We feel that crowds at shows like this would be interested in
participating in the petition and be in the same line as the 'Just Say
Now' campaign," he said.

SSDP plans to have similar live music events and shows to gather
signatures.

"We're just trying to get an idea about what events will work and
experiment at different events," he said.

This is the first year the petition is being carried out, Lawrence
said. He hopes students will get active and participate in the
challenge by providing signatures.

"Students' voice on this campus is very important," he said. "They
need to go out in the community and educate themselves on some of the
issues going on in the government."