Editorial: Proposed drug policy revisions logical, beneficial
Issue date: 3/16/10 Section: Opinion
The current drug use policy at Dixie State College sets disciplinary repercussions for marijuana use on the same level as hard drugs, and we believe this policy is a disservice to DSC students.
Dean of Students Del Beatty, along with five other administrators on campus, have been working hard to revamp the existing drug policy to make it more current. In our opinion, it's about time.
In a recent interview Beatty said marijuana-although equally damaging-is considered a little different than hard-core drugs such as heroin. The new drug policy proposes that college officials treat marijuana as it would treat alcohol violators.
This statement is in line with current medical research that shows that the effects and addictive qualities of marijuana are not on par with those of hard drugs. The Henningfield rating system ranks nicotine, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, caffeine and marijuana in terms of withdrawal, reinforcement, tolerance, dependence and intoxication. Of the six drugs, marijuana ranks last in terms of withdrawal, tolerance and dependence. It is second to last in reinforcement (behind caffeine) and third to last in intoxication (behind caffeine and nicotine). This rating system can be viewed at http://-www.druglibrary.org/Sch-affer/library/basicfax5.ht-m.
According to a study in which psychiatrists, police and legal officials were asked to rank 20 drugs in regards to their overall danger, marijuana ranked No. 11. Hard drugs like heroin and cocaine, as well as legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco, all ranked higher on this list. The study is cited in "Ten Most Dangerous Drugs" by Dr. Ben Kim published on March 27, 2007, and is available at http://drbenkim.com/ten-most-dangerous-drugs.html.
If experts in addiction law enforcement consider marijuana to be less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco, DSC should treat marijuana offenders the same way they treat alcohol and tobacco offenders. Common sense dictates that the punishments should fit the crime, and placing marijuana in the same classification as hard drugs is contrary to this principle.
Dean of Students Del Beatty, along with five other administrators on campus, have been working hard to revamp the existing drug policy to make it more current. In our opinion, it's about time.
In a recent interview Beatty said marijuana-although equally damaging-is considered a little different than hard-core drugs such as heroin. The new drug policy proposes that college officials treat marijuana as it would treat alcohol violators.
This statement is in line with current medical research that shows that the effects and addictive qualities of marijuana are not on par with those of hard drugs. The Henningfield rating system ranks nicotine, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, caffeine and marijuana in terms of withdrawal, reinforcement, tolerance, dependence and intoxication. Of the six drugs, marijuana ranks last in terms of withdrawal, tolerance and dependence. It is second to last in reinforcement (behind caffeine) and third to last in intoxication (behind caffeine and nicotine). This rating system can be viewed at http://-www.druglibrary.org/Sch-affer/library/basicfax5.ht-m.
According to a study in which psychiatrists, police and legal officials were asked to rank 20 drugs in regards to their overall danger, marijuana ranked No. 11. Hard drugs like heroin and cocaine, as well as legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco, all ranked higher on this list. The study is cited in "Ten Most Dangerous Drugs" by Dr. Ben Kim published on March 27, 2007, and is available at http://drbenkim.com/ten-most-dangerous-drugs.html.
If experts in addiction law enforcement consider marijuana to be less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco, DSC should treat marijuana offenders the same way they treat alcohol and tobacco offenders. Common sense dictates that the punishments should fit the crime, and placing marijuana in the same classification as hard drugs is contrary to this principle.
Be the first to comment on this story