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MARIJUANA LEGISLATION DEBATE HELD IN PUGH

The Student Union hosted "The Great Debate: Heads vs.  Feds" on Oct.  11 in Pugh Auditorium, to explore the various facets of the enduring American debate about the merits of marijuana's legalization. 

The debate featured experts Steven Hager, former editor of High Times magazine, and creator of the Cannabis Cup and the Counterculture Hall of Fame against Robert M.  Stutman, a 25-year veteran in the U.  S.  Drug Enforcement Administration who has launched approximately 5,000 investigations leading to more than 15, 000 drug arrests. 

Hager began by explaining the reasons he supports the legalization of marijuana.  The first reason was the medicinal benefits.  "We have a healthcare system in this country that is broken in my opinion, because the cost has been skyrocketing and the two major beneficiaries are pharmacies and insurance companies," said Hager.  "They don't have a problem with you getting high; they have all kinds of mind altering chemicals which they hand out like M&Ms"

Opposing Hager's position that pharmaceutical companies do not want to produce natural drugs, Stutman said, "Over the past fifty years the single largest producer of revenue for pharmaceuticals is penicillin, a natural product ....  aspirin is a natural extract of a plant." Additionally, Stutman said, "...  any doctor who tells you to smoke something because it's good for you is a fool."

"Pharmaceutical companies don't like marijuana because I'm handing you and future generations free medicine...there are more diseases and disorders for which this is a useful substance than any other substance under the sun," said Hager. 

The second reason Hager uses to support marijuana use is its benefits to the environment.  However, "Just because God made it doesn't make it good for everybody," said Stutman. 

He also believes that based on marijuana use, the United States has built the largest prison system in the world.  "We don't have forfeiture or mandatory minimum sentences for armed robbers and rapists but we have it for people that grow marijuana," said Hager.  "Having the highest population of your society in jail is not the hallmark of free society." Additionally, by making marijuana illegal, Hager believes the United States is funding corruption.  Lastly, Hager's personal beliefs play a part in why he wants marijuana legalized.  Hager said, he and others of his religious following, "Believe marijuana is the true sacrament of our world." Stutman said, "I don't think marijuana should be legalized because if we legalize it we will have far more users." He explains the negatives he sees to legalizing marijuana.  First, the number of auto and workplace accidents would increase, marijuana causes dependency for some, in adolescents it interferes with their ability to think and reason. 

"I just think it's a very pertinent issue for our times, given the movement that was mentioned in 11 states where medical marijuana has been passed, it just seems like an issue whose time has come and especially as a law student it interests me to hear the policy arguments between people who stand on really discrete side s of the issue," said law student Scott Montgomery.