LTE: Student blows smoke over pot

I’m very surprised at the amount of coverage about marijuana usage in the past few issues. Obviously it’s a very controversial social issue, but the coverage has been so incredibly one-sided it’s almost laughable. The “drugs are bad” approach works on middle school-aged students in D.A.R.E. but not on college students who are more than capable of making their own decisions.
In your latest editorial, I was put-off by an extremely opinionated statement that it is “beneficial to the overall campus well-being” that Public Safety and Lawrence Township Police Department crack down on marijuana possession and use. If by “beneficial” you mean kicking college students off-campus for consumption of a plant — then yes, it is beneficial. They could accidentally overdose and die. Oh wait, that doesn’t happen with marijuana, but it does with alcohol.
It’s actually pathetic that you would write something like that while underage alcohol consumption runs rampant as ever, but marijuana consumption is viewed as the devil in disguise. I understand you have to reflect the school’s view on subjects, but enough is enough.
I also couldn’t help but notice that there’s been a marijuana write-up in each of the last three Security Briefs. Keep pushing those scare tactics; it’s really going to make people stop.
-Stephen Walters
Junior radio and TV major

Printed in the 3/8/13 edition.