PANELISTS TO DISCUSS MEDICINAL MARIJUANA POLICIES TODAY AT COFFEE HOUSE

Forum To Look At War On Drugs, Opposition To Medicinal Use

With the Supreme Court's impending decision on the legalization of
medicinal marijuana, students may find it worthwhile to attend a forum
featuring three expert panelists who will be speaking about the drug this
afternoon at the ASUCD Coffee House.

The forum, hosted by the Davis College Green Party, will feature Dale
Gieringer from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws,
Nikos Leverenz from the Drug Policy Alliance and Nathan Sands from The
Compassionate Coalition.

Each speaker will focus on a specific issue regarding marijuana and the
"war on drugs" -- the federal government's policy of prohibiting certain
drugs from being sold. In addition, each speaker will hold
question-and-answer sessions after speaking for 20 minutes.

Davis College Green Party President Jonathon Leathers, a junior who helped
coordinate the event, said the forum is being held to educate students on
issues surrounding the war on drugs -- offering insights and solutions for
how drug policies can be changed.

"We're basically taking the stand that people have the right to choose what
they want to do with their own body," he said.

Sands, a medicinal marijuana user suffering from chronic nausea, has been
active with medicinal marijuana politics for a few years. He will be
speaking on the topic of medicinal marijuana, advocating for the rights of
dying cancer and AIDS patients to use the drug.

Gierenger, co-author of the book Marijuana Medical Handbook: A Guide to
Therapy, will be speaking extensively on the "war on drugs" and touch on
the possibility of marijuana reform.

Leverenz, a drug analyst and author of published essays concerning drug
policy, will discuss controversial topics such as drug testing.

In addition to the panelists, the Davis College Green Party will also
provide information on the subject of marijuana. Leathers cited an example
of how alcohol is not prohibited but marijuana is.

"People always point out the fact that people never die from smoking
marijuana and always die from drinking alcohol," he said. "For some reason
one of those is legal and the other isn't."

He added that the speakers would offer their expertise on the three-strikes
law, where a person can potentially be put in prison for life for
possessing or selling marijuana.

"It's a pressing issue that we have to face, because we have so many people
who are non-violent offenders in jail," he said. "We see it as an injustice
in society that something so insignificant can be construed in such a wrong
way."