LdyLunatic
02-14-2006, 12:44 PM
Austin, Texas -- Students at the University of Texas at Austin are asking administrators to ease campus penalties on smoking pot and put them on par with alcohol offenses, saying the school has a responsibility to discourage alcohol-related deaths by taking the stand that marijuana is the safer choice.
"If our elected officials in Texas want to impose harsh penalties for the use of marijuana, that is their decision, but the university does not have to pile on," said graduate student Judie Niskala, 25, who coordinated a referendum effort on campus and runs Texas NORML, which works to liberalize marijuana laws.
Students will vote on the measure, which is not binding, at the end of the month. It's part of a wider effort to target marijuana rules on campuses and in college towns.
It's already drawing opponents, who say that while it may be easy to argue the relative safety of marijuana compared to alcohol, the university shouldn't be sanctioning lawbreaking.
"We can argue all day and all night which is more dangerous, but the fact remains that alcohol is not illegal and marijuana is," said Ben Fizzell, director of the Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at UT. "If that [legal status] needs to be changed, that's different. ... [But] that would be UT saying, 'We do not view marijuana as illegal, and we won't treat it as such.' "
UT rules allow for a student's suspension for drinking on campus or at a UT event, but students cannot be punished for off-campus drinking. For marijuana, a student can be disciplined or suspended for use anywhere.
But the university rarely pursues off-campus pot users. Both alcohol and pot are banned in campus dorms, regardless of a student's age. So the referendum is largely a symbolic statement on what supporters see as the hypocrisy of wider marijuana laws.
"If our elected officials in Texas want to impose harsh penalties for the use of marijuana, that is their decision, but the university does not have to pile on," said graduate student Judie Niskala, 25, who coordinated a referendum effort on campus and runs Texas NORML, which works to liberalize marijuana laws.
Students will vote on the measure, which is not binding, at the end of the month. It's part of a wider effort to target marijuana rules on campuses and in college towns.
It's already drawing opponents, who say that while it may be easy to argue the relative safety of marijuana compared to alcohol, the university shouldn't be sanctioning lawbreaking.
"We can argue all day and all night which is more dangerous, but the fact remains that alcohol is not illegal and marijuana is," said Ben Fizzell, director of the Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at UT. "If that [legal status] needs to be changed, that's different. ... [But] that would be UT saying, 'We do not view marijuana as illegal, and we won't treat it as such.' "
UT rules allow for a student's suspension for drinking on campus or at a UT event, but students cannot be punished for off-campus drinking. For marijuana, a student can be disciplined or suspended for use anywhere.
But the university rarely pursues off-campus pot users. Both alcohol and pot are banned in campus dorms, regardless of a student's age. So the referendum is largely a symbolic statement on what supporters see as the hypocrisy of wider marijuana laws.