WEED HAS A PRICE OVER AND ABOVE ITS MONETARY COST

Ask any "pothead" and he likely will confirm that weed is expensive.
Yet the real cost of marijuana is not the price of a bag but the
potential cost to students' futures.

While marijuana usually isn't as dangerous as other illegal drugs,
and many users are able to use it safely and moderately, its misuse
can adversely affect students' educations, their federal financial
aid, their health and their freedom.

"I used to go to class high all the time. That was probably not such
a good idea," said an Ohio University senior, who requested that his
name be withheld for fear of legal repercussions.

He recalled going to a music class after getting "really high." When
he arrived, he found out that there was not one but two mid-term
tests, and that he was about to take the second one.

"After that, I was just, I was done. I was able to write my name on
the paper," he said. "After that, I kind of learned a lesson. You
have to at least make sure it's not a test day."

Movie days are the best, he added. The senior is a self-described
"pothead" who has smoked on a daily basis since he was a senior in high school.

He said that he smokes marijuana regularly because it gives him "the
nice haze that I need to make my day suck a little less." He tried
going through his day sober and it was "just not that fun," he said.

"I am a college student. I'm about to graduate. I don't feel that bad
about it," he said. "I don't drink that much beer or anything. This
is just my drug of choice."

The senior added that he plans to stop eventually and that he could
not imagine himself continuing to smoke weed after he has a career and family.

Another OU student, who also did not want to be identified, said that
he operates pretty much the same high as when he is sober, even
though marijuana slows him down a little bit.

"I am usually on hyper drive anyway, so it is calming for people
around me, too," he said.

The student said he does not consider himself a "partier" and rarely
drinks alcohol. He does not plan to smoke marijuana for the rest of
his life and would like to be a public school teacher. He said he is
not worried about the health effects because he exercises regularly.

Terry Koons, OU's assistant director of health education and
wellness, teaches a recreational drug class for students that are
referred to him by OU Judiciaries. Students who are required to take
the class as part of a university-mandated penalty, must pay a $50
fee, which includes a book for the course.

"Many people learn to do things in a state of intoxication. Many
marijuana users are only able to focus on one thing at one time,"
said Koons. "You might be able to concentrate, but if your professor
is talking about multiple things, or starts going in different
directions, you may be at a loss or out in your own world."

Koons said that exercise will not reverse many of the health effects.
It takes 15 years for a tobacco smoker's lungs to repair themselves
after the person stops smoking, he added.

Regular marijuana use can cause weight gain, apathy, and cancers
related to smoking, said Koons. It also can negatively impact
short-term memory and learning, and weakens the user's immune system.

Regular users also can develop a tolerance just like with alcohol, said Koons.

"When you start smoking marijuana, the more often you smoke, the more
it is going to take to get that same high," he said. "You might start
smoking more and more to maintain it."

According to Koons, the immediate effects that a user might
experience are euphoria or relaxation, reddening of the eyes,
increased heartbeat, problems paying attention, paranoia and possibly
breathing problems.

Marijuana has less social stigma connected to it than many other
illegal drugs, such as methamphetamines, said Koons. He has even
heard of some students using marijuana to counteract the side effects
of their prescription medications, which is dangerous.

TOM ANGELL, CAMPAIGNS director for Students for a Sensible Drug
Policy in Washington, D.C., said that almost 800,000 Americans are
arrested every year on marijuana-related charges and that many of
them are convicted.

"When a student gets convicted in a court of law, on any drug charge,
including something as small as misdemeanor marijuana possession,
they'll lose their [federal] financial aid to go to college," said Angell.

The law is referred to as the Drug Provision of the Higher Education
Act, and SSDP is campaigning to repeal the provision. The Higher
Education Act is an expansive law that is supposed to make education
more accessible to lower- and middle-income families, said Angell.

"Department of Education statistics show that more than 175,000
students have lost their financial aid since this law was put into
effect in the year 2000," said Angell.

Many students who lose their federal financial aid because of drug
convictions are forced to drop out, he added.

"This provision is having the effect of punishing the very students
whom the DE [US Department of Education] intended to help in the
first place," said Angell. "It is completely antithetical to the
spirit and the intent of the original law."

Angell said that a sensible drug policy would not block education for
students who get in trouble with drugs, nor would it invade citizens'
privacy with urine testing, or "flush taxpayer's money down the
toilets by locking up non-violent offenders." A sensible drug policy
would include reality-based drug education, said Angell.

"The current approach is sort of like an ostrich putting its head in
the sand," he argued. "It's pretending that a drug-free America is
obtainable when we know that not to be the case."

SSDP recently helped to repeal a portion of the drug provision to the
HEA. Now only students who are convicted while enrolled in college
lose their aid, whereas before, any past drug conviction was grounds
to discontinue federal aid.

Some universities are attempting to address drug abuse by expanding
their authority, said Angell.

"There is sort of a new trend that's developing, where more and more
schools are even punishing students for things that happen off
campus," he said. "So, colleges are expanding their jurisdictions to
punish students for drug and other crimes."

A pamphlet from OU's Department of Health Education and Wellness
states that the OU's punishment for the possession, sale or delivery
of marijuana can range from a reprimand to expulsion. However, in the
Student Code of Conduct, possession of small amounts of pot is
considered a less-serious Class-B offense. Possession of other drugs,
or selling any illegal drugs, including pot, can bring Class-A
sanctions, which can be as serious as expulsion.

However, expulsions are rarely the case, and minor use is treated
like alcohol violations, according to Students Defending Students
Director Leah Recht. SDS is an organization that helps guide students
through OU's judiciary process.

OU Judiciaries regularly get reports from the Athens Police
Department of students who have been arrested, according to Recht.

"Off campus, especially around the area, Judiciaries gets the report,
or requests the report actually, from the Athens PD once a week or
so," said Recht. "And they send down the cases that they think are
serious enough to go through Judiciaries."

Recht said that OU is not going out of its jurisdiction because the
Code of Conduct states that students are representing the university
wherever they go.

"OU, for a long time, has had a policy that when you are a student of
Ohio University, you are responsible, and you are carrying that title
with you whereever you go," said Recht.

Most of the violations reported by the Athens Police Department to OU
are related to alcohol violations and parties, said Recht. The
majority of the marijuana violations that she has seen come from the
OU Police Department or the Residence Hall staff.

"In the dorms, that is where it's obviously, it's the easiest to
catch a kid if you can smell it," said Recht.

She said that Judiciaries take into consideration many factors,
including how the student is doing in school and whether or not they
are facing legal repercussions. Often an educational class is offered
or a special assignment is given with or instead of probation, Recht said.

"Judiciaries aren't going to ruin student's lives," said Recht. "If
they are already going through a ton of stuff because they got caught
and had to go through court, then Judiciaries understands that and
just handles the educational aspect of it."

A FORMER OU STUDENT, age 28, who lives outside the Athens city
limits, said that he does not have trouble finding pot to buy in the
area because all of his friends are "potheads." The man asked not to
be identified by name for fear of legal repercussions. He said that
use is common around the area where he lives.

"We'll sit out on the porch and watch kids go by here [driving and]
smoking pot all the time," he said, "And that's what we used to do,
'smoke runs.'"

The man's roommate, who also did not want to be identified, said that
he thinks the people they see driving by are students who live in the dorms.

"Most kids go on cruises," he said.

PERSONS CONVICTED OF DRIVING under the influence of alcohol or drugs
are subject to incarceration, though sometimes that can be waived if
they complete a State of Ohio Driver Intervention Program. Hector
Flores, director of Flores and Associates, Inc., runs just such a
program. The program lasts for 72 hours, costs $350, and focuses on
educating offenders about the consequences of driving under the influence.

Flores, a licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor, said
that any drugs can alter the workings of the human brain.

"Anything we take outside of the norm, drugs specifically, alcohol
specifically, changes the neurochemistry of the brain, period," said Flores.

The Athens Police Department declined to comment on local drug use
for this story.

OU Police Lt. Richard Russell, however, said that drug use has
remained steady over the last couple of years. While marijuana abuse
is a problem, he added, alcohol is a larger issue. OUPD was not able
to supply statistics of arrests on such short notice.

In 2002, however, Athens County had 56 marijuana-related arrests,
according to a study conducted by National Organization for the
Reformation of Marijuana Laws, which can be viewed on NORML's Web
site, www.norml.com. Of the seven counties surrounding OU, only two
had more marijuana-related arrests than Athens -- Hocking County with
84 arrests and Washington County with 80 arrests. The other
surrounding counties had fewer than 10 arrests each.

Data for the study was obtained from the Uniform Crime Reports
program of the Department of Justice-FBI, according to NORML. The
arrests are reported by local police to state agencies, which, in
turn, submit the compiled data to the national program office.

Also according to NORML's Web site, possession of less than 200 grams
of marijuana, or about 7 ounces, is a misdemeanor charge in Ohio that
carries no jail time for first-time offenders. Possession of more
than 200 grams carries the possibility of jail time, and anything
over 1,000 grams is a felony.

Even though NORML lists Ohio as a state that has "decriminalized"
marijuana use, meaning possessors of small amounts of the drug are
fined instead of jailed, students' recreational use can still lead
them into serious legal trouble.

The possession of paraphernalia, such as a pipe or rolling papers, is
a misdemeanor that carries a possible 30-day sentence to jail. Any
sale of the drug carries the possibility of jail or prison time.