Pubdate: Tue, 18 Apr 2006
Source: Western Front, The (Western Washington Univ., WA Edu)
Copyright: 2006 The Western Front
Contact:  http://westernfront.wwu.edu/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/994
Author: Beckie Rosillo
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

MARIJUANA RALLY

Students Build Six-Foot Replica Of Smoking Pipe

A politically-motivated, six-foot-tall bong pipe is not something 
most Western students would normally find in the center of Red 
Square, or anywhere for that matter.

Members of the WWU Libertarians club will protest by displaying the 
bong pipe from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday in Red Square to show their 
support for the fight to legalize marijuana.

Graduate student and club member Hannah Pendergrast said the club 
members hope to inspire students to discuss the war on drugs and 
aren't condoning marijuana use. The bong is to gain students' 
attention, she said.

"It's a really contentious issue," she said. "This is not an 
encouragement to actually do anything illegal. It would be a choice 
on part of the individual smoker."

A similar event hosted by the UW Libertarians club at the University 
of Washington in October 2005 prompted Western club members to 
construct the pipe.

The club's advisor, Western lecturer Bruce Guthrie, said he and 
Western freshman Zack Elan, the club's vice chair, constructed the 
bong out of duct piping one night in Guthrie's garage. The metal 
piping is commonly used in air conditioning ducts, Elan said.

Elan said the club members will distribute educational pamphlets 
about the war on drugs and its negative effects.

Pendergrast said that because possessing marijuana is illegal, it 
restricts an individual's freedom the same way Washington state's 
smoking ban restricts cigarette smokers by keeping them from smoking 
in restaurants and other establishments.

She said politicians should remove these restrictions because 
citizens should be able to do whatever they want with their own 
bodies, so long as they don't harm others.

"The not harming anyone else part is really important," Pendergrast 
said. "A lot of people only hear the 'do what you want' part."

Western junior Aida Burgos said the government should not restrict 
marijuana any more than caffeine, which can cause heart palpitations 
in large quantities, but is unregulated.

"I believe people own their own bodies and the government shouldn't 
step in like a father figure and tell (Americans) what they can and 
cannot do," she said.

Burgos said April 20 makes the most sense as a day to conduct the 
demonstration because it is a popular day to smoke marijuana among 
users. She said she doesn't necessarily think everyone should use the 
drug, but she doesn't think the government should stop citizens who 
choose to smoke marijuana.

"We're not saying it's the best thing in the world," Burgos said. 
"Marijuana can cause cancer, just like cigarettes, and can make you 
lazy as hell. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to do it 
just because someone says it's bad."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman