Something that has not been pondered, although it is probably worthy of note, is would last weekend’s riot have occurred if, instead of drinking alcohol, the participants of the riot had been smoking pot?

Instead of Kum & Go being pelted with rocks, it more likely would have been overrun by thirsty patrons desperately seeking Gatorade; rather than hurling burning Dumpsters down Lincoln Way, party-goers would have been content to gaze in infinite wonder at lava lamps, discuss the finer points of techno music, or play seemingly never-ending games of Halo; instead of windows being broken out of Taco Bell, a riot would have been more likely if they had run out of chicken quesadillas.

The simple fact of the matter is that marijuana users are sedentary folks who laugh a lot and are more likely to devastate a bag of chips than they are society at large. When you think of marijuana users, think of real-life hobbits.

So why is it that while alcohol fuels drunken driving, fights, rapes — and in this case, riots — marijuana users are the ones who are being put in prison for no worse crime than possessing a plant?

The double standard of marijuana prohibition is grotesque! Pot smokers lose their federal student aid, while those convicted of violent crimes such as murder and rape are still eligible. Annual marijuana arrests (88 percent of which are for possession-only) outnumber arrests for all violent crimes put together. Harmless marijuana users face incarceration, intimidation and outright persecution all over something that God created and put on this planet.

What it all boils down to is that although marijuana users cause no significant harm to society, they represent a disproportionate number of those in our nation’s prison system for no better reason than those that make our laws just don’t like people smoking flowers. It is disgusting that, in a supposedly “free society,” a crime is not measured so much by the harm it causes to society as by how tolerant people are to the said activity.

Fortunately, there is something that we can all do about this.

Next Saturday, May 1, Iowa National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws will be sponsoring the annual Million Marijuana March on the west steps of the Capitol building in Des Moines at “high” noon. The Iowa State Libertarians have already pledged their support for this effort and are encouraging everyone to attend who feels that smoking a plant should not a crime. Along with the growing NORML chapter here at Iowa State, we hope to bring carloads of eager individuals to protest the double standard of marijuana prohibition in this state.

Our nation can handle personal responsibility. Our nation can handle legal marijuana.

Jeremy Oehlert

President

Iowa State Libertarians