PROP 215 - NO CANNABIS ON CAMPUS

An HSU policy, unrevised since 2001, says that students can carry any
doctor-prescribed medication on campus -- except marijuana.

Campus policy says even 215 card-carriers can't carry pot An HSU
policy, unrevised since 2001, says that students can carry any
doctor-prescribed medication on campus -- except marijuana. Students
caught with marijuana on campus can also lose their federal financial
aid.

However, a recent court decision reinforcing the validity and
necessity of medical marijuana could mean that students and faculty
with medical needs can carry their prescriptions on campus. "Marijuana
is not legal. If a person has it on campus they may be disciplined or
arrested following federal law," said University Police Chief Robert
Foster.

With 61 marijuana-related arrests just last year, students, faculty
and anyone on university grounds are subject to the policy.

"This campus has taken a stance on marijuana," Foster said. "What many
students don't know is that if they are convicted of possession of
marijuana, they could lose their federal financial aid."

California's Proposition 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act,
granted doctor-recommended marijuana to those with a medical need in
1996. Conditions from cancer and AIDS to arthritis and migraines were
approved for treatment in accordance with the proposition.

Dave Gieringer, director of the California chapter of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), and co-author
of Proposition 215, said that students at a state university should be
subject to state law.

"I think [the HSU marijuana policy] is hokum," Gieringer said in a
phone interview from his San Francisco home. "It's bologna. They're
using federal laws as a smoke screen. They're required to follow state
law, not federal law."

Soon after 215 passed, many medicinal marijuana users were issued 215
identification cards in response to the backlash and continued
prosecution of patients by the federal government. Although the cards
aimed to counteract the confusion, they have not completely cut
through the fog surrounding state versus federal regulations.

Students and faculty receiving federal money, like financial aid and
grants, would lose all federal funding if convicted of a
marijuana-related crime in accordance with the federal Controlled
Substance Act, which bans the cultivation or use of marijuana for any
purpose.

Ed Rosenthal, a member of the International Cannabinoid Research
Society and author of a dozen books about marijuana cultivation, is an
internationally-recognized authority on marijuana.

"What if a diabetes patient couldn't carry insulin on campus?" he said
in a phone interview from his Oakland office. "For some people
marijuana is a necessary medicine either for their health or for their
very life.

Regarding medications that are allowed on campus, such as insulin,
Foster said, "Those are prescribed, not recommended. And it's not an
illegal substance. Marijuana is yet to be received as a medicine."

Rosenthal disagreed. "Marijuana is recognized by the state of
California as a medicine," he said. "So (HSU) would have to have a
good reason why a person couldn't use this medicine on campus. There
is no federal law on campus -- it's a state institution. " The HSU
marijuana policy, outlined in a 2001 memorandum for immediate
implementation by all California State University campuses, cited the
United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperative case of May
2001. The court ruled that there was no medical necessity exception to
federal law prohibiting the manufacture and distribution of marijuana.

The memorandum also required all CSU campuses to comply with the
federal Safe and Drug Free Communities Act. Under this act, all
institutions of higher learning must enforce a program that prevents
the unlawful possession, use or distribution of illicit drugs by
students and employees as a condition of receiving federal funding.

However, in a December 2003 decision, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled in the case of Raich v. Attorney General John Ashcroft
that if the marijuana is not purchased, transported across state lines
or used for non-medicinal purposes, the federal government is
powerless to prosecute medicinal users.

This case marks the first time that the Controlled Substance Act has
been ruled unconstitutional. The court decision, based on an
interpretation of the Commerce Clause -- which governs the federal
government's ability to control interstate commerce -- ruled that a
patient growing medicine doesn't affect interstate commerce.

Foster wrote in an opinion piece in The Times-Standard, "It's
important to know that local ordinances and state medicinal marijuana
laws do not apply on school property, including colleges and
universities. On campus you will be arrested for either possession or
trafficking."

The column, titled "Educate Yourself: Getting a grip on the drug menace,"
was published Feb. 19.

However, regarding interactions with 215 card-carriers in the past,
Foster said, "(A 215 card) would certainly alert us to the fact that
this person can use medicinal marijuana in the appropriate
jurisdiction. We have directed people (with 215 cards) who have been
on campus to go off campus, or there could be sanctions."

Ryan King, an HSU Cypress resident hall tenant and entheogenic
anthropology sophomore, will be receiving his 215 card in April. King,
a registered member and Humbold County representative of the Marijuana
Party (a non-partisan political party focused on ending the drug war),
hopes to establish the party locally and is also applying to open a
Humboldt County NORML chapter.

King faces daily conflicts with campus regulations as a residence hall
tenant. "Housing specifically brainwashes the LGA staff (living group
advisers) to persecute cannabis users," he said.

Redwood Hall LGA Whitney Ford-Terry has written only one violation for
marijuana this year. "If we find it, smell it, see it on campus we are
liable to call the coordinator on duty or (university police),"
Ford-Terry said.

"It has nothing to do with us not wanting them to have it," she said.
"If we don't abide by the rules we're given in training we'll lose our
jobs and our housing."

Some students in the residence halls don't want marijuana in their
living areas. Cory McGarvey, a sociology freshman and resident of
Redwood Hall's "wellness" floor, is committed with the rest of his
hall mates to a drug-free lifestyle.

"I think it is a bad idea even if it was state legal for (students) to
have (marijuana)," McGarvey said. "It makes it more accessible for
people who shouldn't have it."

"These are highly uninformed people with a lot of power," King said of
the police force and housing representatives. "And that can be very
dangerous."

Rosenthal suggested immediate reform. "File a suit against the
university," he said. "Don't play games with them. When your rights
are violated you go to court."

Rosenthal said organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union
and Green Aid might offer assistance to students who wish to change
the policy.

"Ultimately this policy will be overturned," he said. "It's
unconstitutional."