Pubdate: Tue, 27 Nov 2012
Source: New Haven Register (CT)
Copyright: 2012 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.nhregister.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/292

MARIJUANA ELEVATED IN ACADEMIA

ARCATA, Calif. (AP) - A public university located in one of 
California's prime pot-growing regions has formed an academic 
institute devoted to marijuana.

The Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research at 
Humboldt State University plans to sponsor scholarly lectures and 
coordinate research among 11 faculty members from fields such as 
economics, geography, politics, psychology and sociology.

The Times-Standard of Eureka reports that one professor is studying 
recent campaigns to legalize marijuana, while another is 
investigating the environmental effects of pot cultivation.

"If anyone is going to have a marijuana institute, it really should 
be Humboldt State," economist Erick Eschker, the institute's 
co-chairman, told the newspaper. Eschker is studying the connection 
between marijuana production and employment in the county.

The institute is probably the first dedicated to examining marijuana 
through the lens of multiple disciplines, according to sociologist 
Josh Meisel, who is leading the enterprise with Eschker.

Humboldt faculty started discussing the idea in 2010, when California 
was preparing to vote on a bitterly contested ballot proposition that 
would have treated marijuana like alcohol.

"With these public discussions, there were a lot more questions than 
there were answers," Meisel said. He and other faculty became 
interested in applying academic rigor to the economic, health and 
legal issues raised in the eventually unsuccessful campaign.

Now that voters in Colorado and Washington have done what California 
would not, passing marijuana legalization measures this month, the 
institute has even more reason to exist.

Politics professor Jason Plume is giving a lecture on the marijuana 
reform movement tonight, one of seven public talks the institute 
plans to hold this year.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom