Friends pass around a marijuana cigarette while standing on Norlin Quad April 20, 2009. The annual smoke-out drew 8,000 to 10,000 people despite CU's official condemnation of the event. (CU Independent file/Lauren Walter)
As medicinal marijuana grabs headlines and hearts, students sound off about whether the plant should be legalized in its entirety.
The CU Independent interviewed 12 students and eight out of 12 students were advocates of legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes. Two were against and two were neutral.
“Why not [legalize it],” said Mark Hummel, a 22-year-old senior architecture major who said he doesn’t smoke. “It doesn’t hurt anybody. It could follow similar rules and regulations as alcohol and with some restrictions it could become really good revenue of USA.”
Jack Bradley, a 21-year-old senior psychology major, said he smokes marijuana for recreational purposes and believes that it should be legalized.
“I think we have a lot of gray area and if we legalize it in general it will be less complicated and more resourceful,” Bradley said.
Rowed Al Theghfi, a 21-year-old senior chemical engineering major, said he doesn’t smoke marijuana, but believes it should be legalized.
“I see a lot of my friends smoke and they enjoy it,” Al Theghfi said. “It can also be a gateway drug so people should just stick to marijuana and not cross the line and try other drugs.”
Pierre Werner, the 38-year-old owner of Dr. Reefer, the local medical-marijuana dispensary, believes that marijuana should be legalized not only for medical purposes but also for recreational purposes.
“It’s a very good idea to legalize it because it would stop non-violent people to be put in jail,” Werner said. “Only murderers, rapists and robbers should be in jail, not non-violent plant huggers.”
While there are students who advocate legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes, there are some who believe that arguments supporting legalization of marijuana are not convincing.
“The cons of legalizing it outweigh the pros,” said Yousif Al Qutari, a 20-year-old sophomore double major in chemical engineering and economics who said he doesn’t smoke. “The ones that are supporting the legalization don’t have very convincing reasons.”
Anna Balzer, a 19-year-old junior environmental studies major, said she doesn’t smoke and believes marijuana is a gateway drug so it shouldn’t be legalized.
Although there are proponents and opponents for legalizing marijuana, there are some who remain neutral.
“I really don’t care,” said Mike Whitcomb, a 22-year-old junior history major who said he doesn’t smoke. “It’s not really my thing.”
Sweta Adhikary is a senior at Arapahoe High School, who is writing for the CU Independent as part of a high school journalism workshop the CU Independent hosted on Feb. 26 and 27.
Contact CU Independent News Editor Sara Kassabian on behalf of Sweta Adhikary at Sara.kassabian@colorado.edu.
1 comment
This is one of the best articles I’ve seen on this site recently. Well researched, well presented, well written.