SMOKING POT NOT AN EXHIBITION SPORT

Okay, of all the things not to waste time on at this point in CU's
troubled history, marijuana would be chief on the list.

CU students would be wise to forgo a proposed non-binding referendum
that would ask the CU-Boulder administration to acknowledge that
marijuana is not as bad as alcohol and to enforce pot violations with
more laxity than two-strike booze violations. To that idea we say to
the students: are you high?

First off, CU's reputation as a party school includes not only
dangerous boozing kids, but lazy, unmotivated, fuzzyheaded dopers as
well. The stereotype of the dreadlocked CU kid torching up on the
chronic on 4/20 and eating 12 bags of potato chips is not a better
image than that of the late Gordie Bailey, just because no one dies at
the end.

In fact, it's more or less the same image. While pot may not kill you,
it's also not great for you and it's illegal, in case no one told
SAFER (Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation), the group pushing
the referendum. Chronic use of chronic can cause testicular shrinkage,
sterility, a build-up of THC in the fat cells, repeating one's self, a
lack of motivation, and repeating one's self, among other problems.

All joking aside, simply trading one drug for an arguably less harmful
one (we acknowledge it's pretty hard to toke yourself to death, but
that doesn't make the drug harmless) doesn't do much for CU's image in
the eyes of legislators, parents, alumni and taxpayers: the key groups
who need their confidence in CU restored.

Likewise, with the stupid yearly ritual of "4/20" coming up, we'd also
advise a voluntary laying off of that sun-drenched exercise in
dumbness as well. Exhibitionistic dope-blowing isn't a political
statement, isn't rebellion, isn't a sophisticated form of protest.
It's just partying and a chance to thumb your nose at the cops. And
again, with CU's image at stake, it's not a well-timed move, either.
With CU possibly planning a crackdown on 4/20, it would be wise to let
the thing burn out anyway.

While we are all in favor of getting rid of stupid and antiquated
marijuana laws, the last thing CU needs, at any level, is an official
or unofficial sanction of more dope use.

C'mon partiers. Back in the day, nobody needed a 4/20 to get high. You
smoked in your house, with your friends, watching Nickolodeon or ESPN
or the Playboy Channel and eating bags of Cheetos and lots of
mini-Snickers bars.

There was no holiday needed for that - no affirming,
strength-in-numbers official sanction or phony demonstration. You lit
up and then went on with life and schoolwork. Like so many other
things these days, making a self-aggrandizing spectacle out of bong
hits is just more unnecessary narcissism and attention-getting nonsense.

Keep pot smoking where it belongs: in the home, away from public
spaces, cops, administrators and others. Nobody will bother you, and
nobody will judge your university because of what you do.

The Founding Stoners wouldn't approve of bringing more attention to
the act of toking. We suggest you don't, either.