Students who felt Bushwhacked after the 2004 presidential election will likely experience a similar sensation today when authorities weed whack students who publicly celebrate marijuana's holiday.
Police can slap first-time smokers with a $1,000 fine, six months in prison and may add 100 extra hours of community service if the offender smokes within 1,000 feet of a school or other specified areas. The president's war on drugs will keep legalization out of legislation nationally, but support by several politicians in Madison to decriminalize pot may permit changes in local policy. In comparison to alcohol, marijuana poses a trivial threat to the university's student body.
Although the controversy concerning marijuana seems to pit politicians against drug users, many politicians in Madison actually endorse less stringent marijuana laws. Included in the list of legalization advocates are Ald. Brenda Konkel, District 2; Ald. Brian Benford, District 12; Ald. Austin King, District 8; and Ald. Ken Golden, District 10. Students with the desire to get stoned without sentences should support these politicians, including Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, who supports decriminalization and the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
The mayor's policy of decriminalization has the potential to satisfy both students and law enforcement. Either the current law would not be enforced but remain in the books, or students charged with marijuana possession would face a monetary penalty in lieu of incarceration. In the fight for a reasonable marijuana law, students should accept the mayor's brand of compromise as a progressive step toward a reasonable drug policy.
In the state Legislature, Assembly Bill 255 proposes a similar policy that would decriminalize marijuana possession for first-time offenders in Wisconsin. This proposal and the mayor's should receive united support from conservatives and liberals on campus. Conservative students who condemn these policies as hindrances to the war on drugs should consider the similarities between today's drug war and Prohibition, which succeeded to accomplish, well, nothing. If conservatives genuinely want to fight for a morally sound Madison campus, they should promote decriminalization as a way to reduce illegal drug trafficking, violent crime and privacy violation.
School officials who criticize Madison's \work hard, party hard"" reputation should not fear that a relaxed marijuana policy would bolster this image. Decriminalization has the potential to create a responsible social environment for the controlled use of marijuana without inciting greater alcohol abuse-the university's real problem. As indicated by Madison's rankings as the number two school for ""Lots of Beer"" and three for ""Lots of Hard Liquor"" by the Princeton Review, alcohol presents the most daunting threat to the academic excellence of the student body. The virtual decriminalization of underage drinking has imposed far greater social ills on the Madison community than would arise from a relaxed marijuana policy.
Students for decriminalizationof marijuana should celebrate April 20 by rousing support for Assembly Bill 255. Students who remain wary or desire more information about decriminalization should attend the debate today at 7 p.m., Memorial Union TITU to learn about marijuana policy. If pot advocates mobilize and facilitate passage of Assembly Bill 255, the dust may settle between pro- and anti-marijuana forces, and the smoke may finally rise in the state of Wisconsin.
