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| Yes | 27% | 199 votes | Total: 749 votes | |
| No | 73% | 550 votes |
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Add to FavoritesColleges should have a no-tolerance attitude to those who are using drugs such as marijuana. I believe by doing so, that it would discourage those students from harming themselves so that they may make the most of their stay during college by focusing on their studies. The addictive effects of marijuana-smokers greatly diminishes their capacity for wanting to learn, and taking the initiative to do so.
For a place like college, it's imperative that they begin learning (or reinforcing) self-control and discipline. The whole point of college is to train students for their career, and that they do it professionally. But by not putting in the proper punishments for going against the law because of a drug craving ends up giving the students the sense that it's not as bad as they think it is. It's the wrong kind of encouragement.
The need for marijuana also ends up burning a hole in the pockets of the college students. With the already high school costs, they're just spending the money on something that they really have no business in needing, let alone using. The fact that marijuana is socially acceptable among students makes a student less of an individual and basically tells them that if everyone's doing this one thing, that is actually illegal and unhealthy, it's completely fine if you do it as well. Which is a horrible mindset.
The health effects for marijuana are also no joke in the short-term and long-term. For many students, it could be their first time and they have very little knowledge about what kinds of marijuana there are and what they do. For all they know the marijuana has more than the common 5 percent THC that most plants have, which results in the initial effects being quite drastic. Most of the effects that happen in the short-term make the person look like they just woke up after a 24 hour sleep. Not to mention the students that smoked marijuana a day before tending classes with reddened eyes with the usual odd body temperature makes a bad impression on how the school looks.
If marijuana-smokers don't get rightfully and properly punished, it won't break up the cycle of peer pressure where newer college students would be tempted to try and get hooked on the stuff. It's a terrible experience for a new group of people to enter college only to be surrounded by other students that live and breathe the drug.
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No
College administrations are faced with a tough question regarding the proper course of action to take when confronted with marijuana usage on their campus. Operating under the assumption that rules and regulations exist on a campus to ensure the safety of the students and to protect the image and property of the university, it would be in the administration's best interest to not punish marijuana users more severely than underage drinkers. Underage drinking on a campus possesses many more negative externalities than dope usage and should not receive the benefit of leniency. Underage drinking on campuses poses major safety threats to students, fosters destruction of campus property, and can have a very negative impact on the image of the college.
Underage drinking poses an enormous safety issue on college campuses. Many times, moving away to college is the first time students have such broad and open access to alcohol. It is not uncommon for many freshmen to severely over imbibe, resulting in too many trips to the emergency room to treat alcohol poisoning. Some students don't survive. Irresponsible drinking is also responsible for a remarkable amount of campus violence. A fight breaking out between partiers is an all too common sight at many universities. These altercations are often fueled by other partiers and can lead to serious injuries and property damage. Sexual assault and rape are much easier to perpetrate when dealing with inebriated individuals, and the disappearance of female students after a night of drinking heavily has been an issue at many universities.
When compared to underage drinking, the use of marijuana creates many less campus safety issues. There is virtually no risk of death from over indulging in unadulterated marijuana. If a person smokes too much weed, they generally consume too many baked goods and fall asleep. Violence is not something that goes hand in hand with smoking pot because is does not affect people in a manner that causes aggression. Sexual assault is an issue whenever someone enters an altered state; however, marijuana usage in not often cited as a contributing factor of campus date rape and assault.
Campuses are constantly doing battle with the destruction and vandalism that has become a party to rowdy gatherings of students over indulging in alcohol. The locations hosting the parties become the recipients of broken doors, holes punched in walls, door ripped off of their hinges, and flooring stained from spilled drinks. As if the smell of stale beer soaking into carpet and woodwork wasn't bad enough, vomit can usually be found outside of the party house and sometimes inside as well. Sometimes, a few of the partiers who are still mobile after surviving their drinking marathon, will continue to wreak havoc on their way home. Campuses have to deal with the smell of urine soaked bushes, broken signs and benches, and the occasional discovery of a student who couldn't make it home and opted to sleep where ever they fell.
Parties that involve a large number of people who are high are usually found to be rather calm affairs. Being high on marijuana is not conducive to the kind of rowdy and raucous partying that leads to the destruction of property.
A college that is constantly undergoing a destructive barrage from drunken undergraduates eventually begins to suffer major image problems. The physical features of the campus begin to look shabby, broken down, and uncared fora major issue when it comes time for open houses and fund raising events. The school will begin to get a negative reputation, not that of "the party school," but of a place that is not safe for students. Reports of fights, sexual assault, and high numbers of busted parties will create an image of out of control students and will detract from the educational based merits of the institution.
It is entirely possible for universities to gain a reputation that centers around the rate of substance use demonstrated by their student population. Marijuana usage is something that students do behind closed doors and in secluded areas, so colleges are not forced to deal with the issue in the same manner as underage drinking. Schools that do have reputations for a high level of pot consumption are often not viewed as places that are dangerous for incoming students, and can sometimes be looked favorably upon because of their "green" reputation.
In the eyes of the campus administration, it would be in the college's best interest to stop penalizing those who are smoking a joint behind closed doors while others are out destroying property, posing safety hazards, and are actively tarnishing the school's reputation. On a basic financial level, universities realize a greater financial lose resulting from the actions of underage drinkers. Even as some cities are decriminalizing the possession of amounts of marijuana for personal use, it seems like a misguided policy for colleges to mete out steeper punishments for students caught using marijuana.
Learn more about this author, Joan Huston.
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