[420 Girl]

Mitch Earleywine, a University at Albany psychology professor, is described as "popular" by the university's newspaper. That's likely due in part to his pro-marijuana advocacy, but Earleywine recently received the Excellence in Teaching Award at the university's 2009 President's Awards for Excellence ceremony in May.

Earleywine, who holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from Indiana University, has taught classes like Addictive and Compulsive Behaviors, which aims to "provide an overview of alcohol, drug use, and gambling as examples of addictive behaviors," according to the UAlbany undergraduate bulletin. Earleywine also believes that America's young people have been lied to about the use of marijuana, and is on the advisory board for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

"Kids go through all of middle school, all of high school" with the notion that marijuana use will hinder them, Earleywine said. He has concluded through his studies that marijuana smokers have been perceived unfairly by society. "The subsets [of the population] that try marijuana aren't unmotivated slugs," he said.

The student turnout for the awards ceremony was overwhelming, with the largest and loudest ovation of all recipients going to Earleywine. Many of the students came out to see the "drug teacher" one last time before they graduated, some even carrying a copy of his 2002 book, "Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence."

On ratemyprofessors.com, a Web site that allows students to rate instructors, Earleywine has 49 total ratings with a 4.6 overall rating based on a scale of five. Many of the ratings rave about Earleywine's Addictive and Compulsive Behaviors class.

"We should make him a god. This guy is freaking super sweet. Really funny really interesting. I would follow this man to the gates of hell," said one commenter on the site, who posted on Feb. 3.

Another commenter praised Earleywine's teaching style. "Addictive and Compulsive Behaviors should be a mandatory class for every psych major ... as long as it is taught by Mitch Earleywine," the commenter wrote in an April 16 post. "He is an amazingly intelligent, upbeat and straight-forward teacher. Just the right amount of everything to make this class interesting, yet still challenging enough to keep your brain on."

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