Contrary to popular belief..

Marijuana is a plant.  Sure it is classified as a Schedule I drug, but it's still an easily accessible plant.  So, what's my opinion on the dope smoking on Witt's campus?  In two words--it's inevitable. 

Just last night at a party, I began to tackle this question immediately after I was told that there was a "smoking room" upstairs.  At first it sounded absurd that there was a room set aside specifically for smoking weed, but as I looked around at the beer cans covering the floor and the 15+ half-empty hard liquor bottles, I questioned whether marijuana was the problem here.  

As I see a group of students sitting on the couch talking, it was blatantly obvious they were stoned.  Not only did they wreak of weed, but their red, squinty eyes easily gave it away.  As they continued to carry on a normal conversation, I now see the other group of students simultaneously chugging beers to the song "Thunder".  Fist pumping to the music, throwing their bodies into the air, and trying to string together at least a few words to complete a sentence, I feel it is this group who is going to regret what they did the next morning (or at least I would be embarrassed...).  

What I'm trying to say, while taking the long way around in doing so, is weed is not the problem.  Sure, it's on our campus, but its use does not even begin to compare to the amount of alcohol use, nor do majority of the problems that arise around campus stem from smoking weed or weed in general.  

What would be an intriguing and compelling argument would be to investigate whether smoking weed leads to an increase in the use of hard drugs on our campus, as some call marijuana a gateway drug.  Maybe it already does, but I'm not sure of the exact use of other hard drugs on campus.  It would be an interesting statistic to know, but as of now, I "blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol".

But, in all seriousness, I don't want it to sound as if I'm fully supporting marijuana and all it's uses.  I do feel that some people overuse, as well as misuse the drug, however, I'm simply stating that the specific use of marijuana on Wittenberg's campus is not as prevalent as alcohol--which, let's not forget, alcohol is a drug too!

Oh yeah, one more thing. It is sometimes overly obvious that some kids may be smoking before class, but how come we're not hounding the student who drank a beer in my math class (then stupidly left the can in the classroom!)?? Get smart....just don't do either!

But, lets be real here...it's college & it's everywhere.