Pubdate: Mon, 24 Sep 2012
Source: Gainesville Sun, The (FL)
Copyright: 2012 The Gainesville Sun
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/yMmn4Ifw
Website: http://www.gainesville.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/163
Author: Nathan Crabbe

SPEAKERS ARGUE SIDES AS UF PLAYS HOST TO 'THE GREAT WEED DEBATE'

They've been billed as the "ultimate odd couple" and it's easy to see why.

Bob Stutman is a retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent, while 
Steve Hager is the former editor of High Times magazine. Stutman and 
Hager spoke Monday before a crowd of more than 640 at University 
Auditorium in an event billed as "The Great Weed Debate: Heads vs. Feds."

They disagreed over most issues in a debate over marijuana 
legalization, but found common ground on the idea that locking up 
drug users makes little sense.

"I think that is an absolutely stupid policy that doesn't do the user 
any good and it doesn't do society any good," Stutman said.

Stutman was a 25-year veteran of the DEA, busting mobster John Gotti 
and making the hit list of drug lord Pablo Escobar. Hager was 
editor-in-chief of High Times for about 15 years, creating the annual 
marijuana festival and contest known as the Cannabis Cup.

Hager's reasons for supporting marijuana's legalization included its 
medicinal benefits. Marijuana can be grown by users and lacks the 
side effects of prescription drugs, he said, yet drug companies 
prevent its legalization.

"They don't care if you get high as long as you're taking your 
medicine," he said.

Stutman said the drug's medicinal benefits can be isolated and given 
in proper doses. There are plenty of substances like arsenic that are 
naturally occurring but harmful, he said.

"Please don't insult me and tell me just because it's natural, it 
must be good," he said.

He cited journal articles that have linked regular marijuana use to 
cancer and other medical problems.

"Any doctor who tells you to smoke anything because it's good for you 
ought to have his license revoked," he said.

Hager said he advocated that marijuana should be vaporized, made into 
tea or put in food rather than smoked.

"You can forget about any negative health impact if you listen to me," he said.

ACCENT, the student-run speaker's bureau, paid $10,000 to the 
speakers for the event. The duo has previously spoken at UF along 
with more than 200 other campuses over the past dozen years, 
disagreeing over the drug issue but remaining friends.

"We refuse to imitate these chumps in Washington who can't say good 
morning to each other without getting into a fight," Stutman said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom