YOUR BRAIN ON DRUGS

The time has come for an overwhelming majority of college students who
smoke marijuana to consider the implications. Our drug of choice has once
again been blamed for society's injustice. Apparently, not only does
marijuana help support terrorism, it is also responsible for teenage car
accidents, lack of gun control, and pregnancy.

All of this is according to The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, who
has recently purchased millions of dollars in cable advertising aimed at
marijuana use. As college students, it was not long ago when we became
proud D.A.R.E. graduates and watched advertisements with an egg in a frying
pan referring to our brain on drugs. But as Bob Dylan puts it, "The times
they are a changin'."

Nowadays, advertisements have evolved to become graphic depictions of
teenage automobile accidents, homicide, and adolescent pregnancy due to
marijuana use. But how worthy are these representations? The Core
Institute, a non-profit organization that promotes education for drug
prevention, conducted a 2000 survey on American campuses. Statistics showed
that 84.1% of students throughout the country have admitted to using
alcohol within the year prior to completing the survey. This is in
comparison to 33.6% of students that have used marijuana.

According to the Community Alcohol Information Program of New Hampshire,
Over 250,000 people have died in alcohol related accidents in the past 10
years. Presently 25,000 people are killed each year in alcohol related
accidents, 500 people are killed each week in alcohol related accidents, 71
people are killed each day in alcohol related accidents. One American life
is lost every 20 minutes in alcohol related auto crashes. It is estimated
that one out of every two Americans will be involved in an alcohol related
accident in his or her lifetime.

But instead of focusing on the real issue at hand, The Partnership for a
Drug-Free America has decided to use marijuana as a scapegoat for society's
problems, instead of alcohol. As if this doesn't sound extreme, the
Partnership for a Drug-Free America offers an interesting alternative to
marijuana. Red meat. This alternative is suggested in one of its print
advertisements, featuring a photo of a burger joint the caption, "This kind
of joint can help prevent marijuana use by your kids."

Meanwhile, Judge Francis L. Young of the Drug Enforcement Administration
claims that one would have to smoke 1,500 pounds of marijuana (20,000 to
40,000 joints) within about 15 minutes to overdose on the drug. Marijuana
has never been proven to have directly caused any death.

The only purpose these new commercials serve is the meaningless
implementation of fear in the minds of young adults. The effect of this is
entertainment for those who choose to smoke marijuana. Students must resume
their activities within the happy smoke-filled Amherst valley and bear in
mind that the true injustice lies within governmental corruption of our
nation's priorities.

Allison Leshefsky is a Collegian Columnist.