Crowd packs Stetson chapel for marijuana debate

[qWERTY]

Only at The Great Debate: Heads vs. Feds could an announcer warn -- "Remember, no lighting up."

About 700 people poured into the Elizabeth Hall Chapel at Stetson University on Wednesday night for the great debate that pitted Bob Stutman, a retired Drug Enforcement Agency agent, against Steven Hager, former editor of High Times magazine.

The event put on by the Stetson Council of Student Activities drew so much attention that the two-story chapel was packed upstairs and downstairs with people lining the back walls and sitting in the aisles.

Marijuana -- which has been used by humans for more than 4,000 years -- remains the most popular of illegal drugs, according to the federal government's 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Despite the rise of club drugs and pharmaceuticals among today's college students, more than half of the 19.7 million people who used illicit drugs in the month before the survey said they used marijuana exclusively.

There has long been a debate about benefits and disadvantages of legalizing the drug, and Wednesday night the debate was brought to Stetson.

Hager kicked things off by pointing out five reasons why marijuana should be legalized -- from "it's good medicine" to "it's a sacrament" to his "hippie" culture.

"Saying that there are no major medical benefits to marijuana is standing in a major hurricane and having the American government tell you wind ain't blowing," he said.

Stutman countered that it would create more accidents and that about 14 percent of people who use it become dependent on the drug.

He compared the legalization of marijuana to the 21st Amendment, which lifted the prohibition on alcohol in 1933, and said there are currently 170 million people consuming alcohol and 14 million people using marijuana.

"If we legalized it, we would have far more users," Stutman said.

There were even a few friendly jabs between the speakers, with Hager inviting Stutman to a Cannabis Club celebration in Amsterdam, while pointing out some of the feel-good side effects of the drug. Stutman declined.

As for which side the crowd was on -- let's just say there were lots of cheers when Hager was introduced and when he spoke.


NewsHawk: _qWERTY - 420 Magazine
Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal Online
Pubdate: 21 September, 2006
Copyright: 2006 News-Journal Corporation
Contact: nicole.service@news-jrnl.com
Website: Daytona Beach News-Journal Online