[420 Girl]

Hundreds of supporters joined the National Organization for Reforming Marijuana and Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (NORML/SSDP) on Saturday, chanting “free marijuana” while marching with signs on Broadway and Pine streets. “It started out kind of small, with about 100 people or so, but by the time we were marching down the street there were so many people,” said juinor Jaclyn Kaul, vice president of NORML/SSDP.

The annual Global Marijuana March in protest of marijuana prohibition was held in 227 cities in numerous countries. The march started in 1999 and, since then, more than 450 cities globally have participated.

“Smokers, medicinal users and marijuana ‘allies’ — those who don’t smoke themselves but see the futility in the war against marijuana — all marched in unison to bring attention to the colossal policy failure that outlaws marijuana,” said Tim Kelly, president of NORML/SSDP. Kelly and Kaul created the club to reach all the members of the University. “I wanted to create a means for people to get involved in a huge social problem and be able to express their frustration with the current laws in a productive manner,” Kelly said.

The group’s constitution states that the goals are “to provide the student and faculty at UW with truthful, unbiased information about drugs, as well as change the drug policy on campus to better reflect the relative harms of such substances.”

NORML/SSDP believes there should be no legal ramifications for adults who chose to use marijuana responsibly. The group wants marijuana to be regulated in a similar manner as alcohol and tobacco products.

“I would like to see marijuana treated similarly to the possession of alcohol by underage students, since both are illegal, [with] disposal of the substance and referral to a mandatory class as they do for alcohol violations,” Kelly said.

The group is facing opposition from the general public and people on campus. “I’ve had particular difficulties trying to convince the resident deans of different dorms that we, like all other registered student organizations, have the right to post informational fliers,” Kelly said.

Many organizations oppose the recreational use of marijuana because of the effects abuse may cause. The National Institute of Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) Web site states that “because marijuana compromises the ability to learn and remember information, the more a person uses marijuana, the more he or she is likely to fall behind in accumulating intellectual, job or social skills.”

NIDA’s research also shows that marijuana use can affect memory. On a study of 129 college students, the heavy users of marijuana had impaired critical skills such as attention, memory and learning.

“This isn’t just about marijuana, this is about our rights,” Kaul said. “I believe that in these events education is the best method, and that the involvement of outside authorities, especially in a city in which marijuana is considered lowest priority by the police force, is unnecessary.”

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