MARIJUANA USE UP FOR DISCUSSION

If marijuana becomes a legal substance, Tennessee
has the ideal growing conditions to cultivate a cannabis farm,
according to High Times magazine Editor Steve Hager.

Bob Stutman, a retired agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, says
the legalization of marijuana would create an epidemic of addicts on
par with alcohol abuse in the U.S.

Stutman and Hager have made careers on opposite sides of the marijuana
legalization divide, but several times a year they share the stage on
college campuses for a scholarly debate on the topic. The two will
meet tonight at 8 p.m. in the Vanderbilt University Student Life Center.

"Students come in wanting to support one side and intensely disliking
and distrusting the other side. What they generally find is we both
have rational, logical, fair arguments," Stutman said.

After years of the same debate, Stutman and Hager have become unlikely
friends.

"You wouldn't know it from the debate because we argue vehemently, but
it never becomes personal," Stutman said. "At the end of the night we
always hug."

At first, the two had trouble finding any common ground. Even as a
retired DEA agent who is known as the "most famous narc in America"
with 5,000 investigations and 15,000 drug-related arrests, Stutman
said his opponent's well-known drug use does not bother him. He said
drug trafficking was his concern, not locking up "potheads."

Steve Hager insists that he is a responsible marijuana user and part
of the counterculture movement. He said debating Stutman has changed
some of his habits.

"Bob convinced me that smoking is not a good thing," he said.
"Fortunately, we have technology called vaporization. Machines
basically remove the active ingredient without any carcinogens from
smoke or carbon monoxide."

Hager said High Times teaches readers how to grow their own marijuana
through the monthly magazine and an iTunes "Pot-cast." The publication
also makes efforts to further the legalization of marijuana. Hager
adds that he believes people have been "hoodwinked" about cannabis.

Hager supports the legalization of marijuana for a handful of reasons,
including its medicinal purposes and low potential for abuse.

Stutman simply defends his position by pointing to the number of
people who already use legal mood-altering substances.

"There are about 170 million users of alcohol and about 15 million
users of marijuana. Those numbers don't come by accident," Stutman
said.

The percentage of VU students who report using marijuana is lower than
that of the national average, said Jeanine Atkinson, head of the
university's Office of Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drug Prevention.
However, she said part of the college experience includes stimulating
debate and critical thinking.

"There are still some individuals that do get into marijuana over
their heads, and sometimes a program like this is the only type of
program that they will actually come out to," Atkinson said.

Three years ago, VU hosted a similar event and had standing room only
in a 600-seat lecture hall. Atkinson said the discussion is geared
toward students, but the public is invited to attend.

Stutman and Hager will take audience questions or inquiries submitted
anonymously by e-mail.

Tonight's event is part of an effort to limit drug use over spring
break, which starts March 4.