With the amount of people that smoke weed, it amazes me how stupid some people can be when it comes to doing so inconspicuously.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve called several of my friends just to hear about how they got arrested for possession. It always makes me wonder – How dense are they? All it takes is a little bit of common sense!

For those of you who are lacking in the common sense department, NORML and Jeff Steinborn have you taken care of. They released a comic strip type thing to help you all out. It’s kind of old, but it’s a great resource for the people that just can’t seem to get discretion through their heads.

Click on the image to make it bigger.

The American Journal of Public Health published survey data this month stating that one in seven public school districts randomly drug test their students. Of those, 93 percent test for sports, 65 percent test for extracurricular activities, and 29 percent test everyone.

In 2002, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to uphold the decision to allow random drug testing for athletes and students who participate in extracurricular activities, but testing the entire student body exceeds current Supreme Court authorization, and they’re more likely to do harm than good.

The American Academy of Pediatrics Council on School Health warns that:

• · School-based drug testing programs could decrease student involvement in extracurricular activities and undermine trust between pupils and educators.
• · Mandatory drug testing may motivate adolescents to switch from using drugs with relatively low morbidity and mortality, such as marijuana, to those that pose greater danger (such as inhalants), but are undetectable by screening tests.
• · Widespread implementation of drug testing may also inadvertently encourage more students to abuse alcohol, which is associated with a greater number of adolescent deaths than any other illicit drug.

If I had to take a drug test to compete on the swim team or take part in the Red Ribbon Club when I was in school, I wouldn’t have joined either. (Yes, believe it or not – I was in the Red Ribbon Club. I plead temporary insanity and would like to assure you all that my brain is now functioning properly again.) I didn’t even smoke pot in High School! It’s just the principle of the fact — What I do (or don’t do) outside of school (or even work) is my own personal business and I don’t believe that anyone should have the authority to tell me otherwise.

Thankfully, it seems our nations’ students feel the same way I do. According to a 2003 study, “Drug testing, as practiced in recent years in American secondary schools, does not prevent or inhibit student drug use.”

Yet another way America’s War on Drugs is a complete and utter failure.

A 56-year-old man in Washington, suffering from Hepatitis C, died Thursday because he couldn’t get a liver transplant. The University of Washington Medical Center denied the man, Timothy Garon, potentially life-saving surgery based on the fact that he uses medical marijuana under his doctor’s supervision (and in accordance with state law.)

UWMC said it would reconsider its denial if Garon enrolled in a 60-day drug treatment program; when Garon tried again to change their minds, UWMC upheld it’s prior decision. The problem is, he didn’t make it that long.

Garon used marijuana to treat his Hepatitis C-related nausea, abdominal pain, and lack of appetite. According to Dr. Robert Sade, director of the Institute of Human Values in Health Care at the Medical University of South Carolina, “Marijuana, unlike alcohol, has no direct effect on the liver,” and Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, “There are no pharmacological or physiological reasons why Tim Garon, or any medical marijuana patient, should logically be denied access to life-saving or life-enhancing organ transplants.” So why was this man denied?

Individual hospitals have the authority to create their own criteria for transplant eligibility; there is no national or statewide standard.

After hearing of the committee’s decision, Garon said, “I’m not angry, I’m not mad, I’m just confused.” Well, me too. If it is legal for him to smoke medicinal marijuana in the state of Washington, then the hospital should not have the authority to deny him surgery that could save his life based solely on that fact, especially with scientific evidence saying that it’s okay!

Lennon Garon, Timothy’s son, is also concerned about the future. “He’s not the first person that this happened to. He’s not going to be the last person until these policies are changed.”

I think it’s absolutely disgusting that they’d sacrifice Timothy Garon on the ‘altar of pot prohibition’ rather than treating him like they would any other suffering person! He’s a human being first and a pot smoker last (AND. ITS. LEGAL!) – People need to think about these things before they make such rash decisions!

You can read more about this case here, here, and here, and contact NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre at (202) 483-5500.