[420 Girl]

Columbia, Missouri - A group of demonstrators spoke Thursday in Speakers Circle, calling for students and university administration to reconsider their stances on marijuana.

Kellie Smith, MU National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws president, spoke in response to Alcohol Awareness Month. She said MU has been driving its students to drink.

According to the Centers for Disease Control Web site, approximately 79,000 deaths each year in the United States can be attributed to alcohol consumption. Zero occur each year due to marijuana.

"I think that most of the negative connotations that come with marijuana are so because it's illegal and has been since 1937," Smith said. "I think people are largely uninformed."

Freshman Renee Schmickley said a lot of the modern negative connotations about marijuana come from the media.

"I don't think people are unproductive," Schmickley said about those who smoke. "My friend, when he smokes, becomes very productive and gets all of his homework done. He eats a lot, but he works out a lot too."

Marijuana activists saw instances in which marijuana could be helpful for communities.

"I think marijuana does so much good for communities," Smith said. "(There's) the recreational use because it's safer, the medicinal value because it has medicinal properties.”

MU graduate and marijuana activist Sean Randall said the decision to make marijuana illegal was rooted in racism.

"I am a marijuana user, and I feel like I'm a very productive member of society," Smith said. "I don't let it control my life. I control it."

Smith said a primary reason marijuana should be legalized rests on a fundamental role of government.

"I don't think the government should make a law about what we can ingest and what we cannot ingest," Smith said.

Schmickley said it is important to keep priorities in order when one smokes.

"It's like food," Schmickley said. "You shouldn't live to eat. You should eat to live. You shouldn't live to smoke. You should smoke just for fun."

After demonstrating in Speakers Circle, the group marched to Jesse Hall to deliver a copy of the Emerald Initiative to the administration.

Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs accepted the proposal and said the administration would review the proposal.

MU spokesman Christian Basi said the university has no specific response to the Emerald Initiative and will look into the proposal in the coming days.

The first law regulating hemp in America came in 1619. Hemp was seen as an irreplaceable plant because of its multitude of uses. Because of that, the first laws came in the form of "must grow" laws, rather than laws of prohibition.

Hemp has been an integral part of the U.S.’s history.

Smith said though the final draft of the constitution was written on parchment paper, it was originally drafted on hemp paper.

"When the Mayflower came over here, the rope and sail were all made of hemp," Smith said.

Hemp is also an integral part of Columbia's history. In the 1800s, the chief crop grown in Columbia was hemp, which was in turn used to create rope. This rope was then sold to the south and used to bind cotton.


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