AMERICANS WARM UP TO MARIJUANA USE ACROSS THE BOARD, ATTITUDES TOWARD
DRUG LEGALIZATION ARE RELAXING

As many on campus have realized, marijuana use is hardly confined to a
stereotypical "pothead" or stoner anymore.

In the United States, at least, marijuana use is becoming more and
more acceptable as larger numbers of people begin to support and argue
for the legalization of the drug.

As shown in recent polls conducted by Gallup and CBS News, 44 percent
of all Americans believe that marijuana should be legalized - a
whopping number compared to the roughly 25 percent that were in favor
of legalization in the '90s. The new increase in legalization approval
correlates with the number of people who are actually engaging in drug
use - a number which, according to a recent survey by the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, rose to its highest
level in a decade last year. But why the newly relaxed attitudes?

Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws (NORML) Allen St. Pierre believes the reason is multifold.

St. Pierre attributes much of the change to shifting generational
demographics, arguing that the baby boomers and Generation Y are much
more likely to embrace and use illegal drugs than members of past
generations. "There is a huge cultural difference regarding the
affinity that the baby boom generation has with cannabis as compared
to, say ... the World War II generation," St. Pierre told the Daily.
"Each time a new generation takes over the reins of power, there are
usually some changes in society." St. Pierre also credits the change
to improvements in technology, pointing to the fact that, in light of
the Internet, people can share ideas about marijuana and gather
support for legalization in a much more efficient manner than was
possible in the past.

"The ability for social organizing ... has made it so that those who
are concerned with a particular topic can organize quite readily in
real time," St. Pierre said. "NORML right now has 1.3 million people
in our network: people on our LISTSERV, our Twitter feeds, our
Facebook page, our Facebook Causes page. We could not mail onea^'ounce
mailings to 1.3 million people; we would be bankrupt the next day. So
the ability to push communications to 1.3 million people at little to
no cost and to organize them is, to me, one of the major reasons why
these reforms are starting to happen." Of course, St. Pierre does not
ignore the fact that antia^'drug activists also have access to the
tools of technology; the lack of major, mainstream opposition to
marijuana, he said, certainly allows for the dissemination of pro
a^'marijuana ideas and attitudes.

"Generally speaking, doctors are not opposed to it. Nurses are not
opposed to it. Teachers are not opposed to it. Almost every religious
sect is not organized against it. Business is not organized against
it. It's just the government," he said.

According to St. Pierre and his research at NORML, the percentage of
Americans who are comfortable with marijuana legalization will only
increase in future years.

St. Pierre, who began tracking public opinion on the subject over 20
years ago by collecting and archiving polls and survey results,
believes that by 2021, a large majority of Americans will favor
legalization. "By 2020a^'2021, 60 percent of Americans ... will want
marijuana legalized," he said. "Right now it's at 45 percent.

That number has doubled in a twentya^' year period."

These attitudes have already, to an extent, materialized in
Massachusetts when voters in the 2008 election approved an initiative
to decriminalize the act of possessing small amounts (one ounce or
less) of marijuana.

Now, those caught carrying the substance must simply pay a $100 civil
fine rather than being reported to the Massachusetts Criminal History
Systems Board, the consequence for possession prior to
decriminalization. Many students on the Tufts campus say they
personally have seen decriminalization result in more relaxed
attitudes toward drug use. Senior Will Cohn explained that most
students already have little or no personal objections to marijuana
use, and the reduced punishment has in turn reduced the only incentive
not to smoke.

"Tufts is a pretty liberal campus, and I think most people would be in
favor of legalizing marijuana.

It's already decriminalized, so it seems like more and more people
have that opinion," Cohn said. "I'm pretty sure most people know that
the worst thing that happens when you smoke too much pot is that you
watch some crappy YouTube videos and then eat one too many Hot
Pockets. That's really about as bad as it gets. They understand that
as long as you're in the privacy of your own home, only so much harm
can be done." While marijuana use is certainly not regarded as
acceptable by the Tufts administration, the newly reinstated "warning"
as part of its drug and alcohol policies may indicate a slow move
toward a more lenient stance on the drug. Under current policy,
students caught illegally drinking or using small amounts of marijuana
are now given the opportunity to schedule a meeting with the Director
of Alcohol and Health Education in order to have their punishment
replaced with a "warning."

There are, of course, others who stand against the recently lax
attitudes. Government groups such as the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
and drug prevention groups such as the Drug Free America Foundation
still stand firmly against the legalization of marijuana.

Lana Beck, Director of Communications of the Drug Free America
Foundation, stressed the importance of antia^'drug education as a
method by which Americans can learn about the negative consequences of
drug use. "I do think drug prevention is very important," Beck told
the Daily. "Drug prevention is paramount for folks to become educated
on the issues surrounding drugs and their effects."

As many on campus have realized, marijuana use is hardly confined to a
stereotypical "pothead" or stoner anymore.

In the United States, at least, marijuana use is becoming more and
more acceptable as larger numbers of people begin to support and argue
for the legalization of the drug. As shown in recent polls conducted
by Gallup and CBS News, 44 percent of all Americans believe that
marijuana should be legalized - a whopping number compared to the
roughly 25 percent that were in favor of legalization in the '90s. The
new increase in legalization approval correlates with the number of
people who are actually engaging in drug use - a number which,
according to a recent survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Service Administration, rose to its highest level in a decade last
year. But why the newly relaxed attitudes?

Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws (NORML) Allen St. Pierre believes the reason is multifold.

St. Pierre attributes much of the change to shifting generational
demographics, arguing that the baby boomers and Generation Y are much
more likely to embrace and use illegal drugs than members of past
generations. "There is a huge cultural difference regarding the
affinity that the baby boom generation has with cannabis as compared
to, say ... the World War II generation," St. Pierre told the Daily.
"Each time a new generation takes over the reins of power, there are
usually some changes in society." St. Pierre also credits the change
to improvements in technology, pointing to the fact that, in light of
the Internet, people can share ideas about marijuana and gather
support for legalization in a much more efficient manner than was
possible in the past.

"The ability for social organizing ... has made it so that those who
are concerned with a particular topic can organize quite readily in
real time," St. Pierre said. "NORML right now has 1.3 million people
in our network: people on our LISTSERV, our Twitter feeds, our
Facebook page, our Facebook Causes page. We could not mail onea^'ounce
mailings to 1.3 million people; we would be bankrupt the next day. So
the ability to push communications to 1.3 million people at little to
no cost and to organize them is, to me, one of the major reasons why
these reforms are starting to happen." Of course, St. Pierre does not
ignore the fact that antia^'drug activists also have access to the
tools of technology; the lack of major, mainstream opposition to
marijuana, he said, certainly allows for the dissemination of pro
a^'marijuana ideas and attitudes.

"Generally speaking, doctors are not opposed to it. Nurses are not
opposed to it. Teachers are not opposed to it. Almost every religious
sect is not organized against it. Business is not organized against
it. It's just the government," he said.

According to St. Pierre and his research at NORML, the percentage of
Americans who are comfortable with marijuana legalization will only
increase in future years.

St. Pierre, who began tracking public opinion on the subject over 20
years ago by collecting and archiving polls and survey results,
believes that by 2021, a large majority of Americans will favor
legalization. "By 2020a^'2021, 60 percent of Americans ... will want
marijuana legalized," he said. "Right now it's at 45 percent.

That number has doubled in a twentya^' year period."

These attitudes have already, to an extent, materialized in
Massachusetts when voters in the 2008 election approved an initiative
to decriminalize the act of possessing small amounts (one ounce or
less) of marijuana.

Now, those caught carrying the substance must simply pay a $100 civil
fine rather than being reported to the Massachusetts Criminal History
Systems Board, the consequence for possession prior to
decriminalization. Many students on the Tufts campus say they
personally have seen decriminalization result in more relaxed
attitudes toward drug use. Senior Will Cohn explained that most
students already have little or no personal objections to marijuana
use, and the reduced punishment has in turn reduced the only incentive
not to smoke.

"Tufts is a pretty liberal campus, and I think most people would be in
favor of legalizing marijuana.

It's already decriminalized, so it seems like more and more people
have that opinion," Cohn said. "I'm pretty sure most people know that
the worst thing that happens when you smoke too much pot is that you
watch some crappy YouTube videos and then eat one too many Hot
Pockets. That's really about as bad as it gets. They understand that
as long as you're in the privacy of your own home, only so much harm
can be done." While marijuana use is certainly not regarded as
acceptable by the Tufts administration, the newly reinstated "warning"
as part of its drug and alcohol policies may indicate a slow move
toward a more lenient stance on the drug. Under current policy,
students caught illegally drinking or using small amounts of marijuana
are now given the opportunity to schedule a meeting with the Director
of Alcohol and Health Education in order to have their punishment
replaced with a "warning."

There are, of course, others who stand against the recently lax
attitudes. Government groups such as the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
and drug prevention groups such as the Drug Free America Foundation
still stand firmly against the legalization of marijuana.

Lana Beck, Director of Communications of the Drug Free America
Foundation, stressed the importance of antia^'drug education as a
method by which Americans can learn about the negative consequences of
drug use. "I do think drug prevention is very important," Beck told
the Daily. "Drug prevention is paramount for folks to become educated
on the issues surrounding drugs and their effects."