University of South Carolina Libraries
MADM! speaks ii By Ronds Templeton Gamecock Staff Wrttsr ! South Carolina will be one of the first states to legalize marijuana, Keith Stroup, founder and former director of the National < Organization for the Reform of 1 Marijuana Laws, said at an in- I terview Tuesday in the Russell < House University Union. "South Carolina has a great < climate for growing marijuana," Stroup said. He believes ! decriminalization will be the most i Hiffimlit ctpn in nHomnto rofnrtn I laws, and that legalization will follow soon. ' Stroup said he doesn't know whether South Carolina will be ! among the next 10 or the last 10 < states to decriminalize pot, but "since North Carolina and ' Mississippi have already decriminalized it, other Southern i states will follow." I SOUTH CAROLINA farmers would benefit financially by 1 "growing marijuana where they ] now grow tobacco," if pot were i decriminalized. The legalization of < marijuana would be an economic I advantage here in South Carolina s since an estimated $3 billion is 1 spent here on pot each year, Stroup ' ooirl JOIU. The biggest obstacle in attempts to decriminalize marijuana is misinformation. "Older people think of marijuana in the same way they think of prostitution," Stroup said. Pot smokers should not be compared with rapists and murderers, according to Stroup. "Someone who uses marijuana should not have to go to jail. They haven't done anything terrible," he said. Stroup appeared in a television documentary entitled "Reading, Writing and Reefer" last fall and called the show "the most disgusting piece of journalism ever shown on television." " 'Reading, Writing and Reefer' indicated that large numbers of pre-adolescent youth smoke regularly. I have a 10-year-old daughter, and she says none of her friends smoke." Stroun said. STATEMENTS STROUP made during the filming of "Reading, Writing and Reefer" were taken out of context, he said. "Sure I said it wasn't a good idea for preadolescents to smoke large amounts of marijuana, but nobody in their right mind would say it was." Th??rp arp crood rpasnns fnr decriminalization and eventual legalization of marijuana, Stroup said. There would be age regulations and quality controls if pot were legalized, according to Stroup. When pot is made legal, the minimum age for use will probably Ka 1ft hnt "that Hftpsn't mpjtn 1ft and 17-year-olds won't be able to get it?just like they can get beer ~ and wine," Stroup said. While adults can limit marijuana use to fit their needs, younger people should limit their pot smoking to a fairly recreational, defined period, he added. Stroup has smoked pot on almost a daily basis for the past 10 years. 4'My daughter knows about it. If I'm at home, I generally smoke niti/an T urafph tKf> nou/e " ho eniH "I use marijuana the same way some people drink a cocktail." STROUP PREFERS Asian strains of marijuana, especially "Thai sticks," but says they are expensive and hard to find in Southern states. Good pot is also grown in Hawaii, Arkansas, Florida and Humboldt County, California, but the seeds are | founder i i DUI If I 1 1 111 A K-J 1 usually brought in from Asia, he l! said. jj Although there sometimes g| seems to be a lack of pot in some m areas, there is never really a true ?j drought, Stroup said. Periodical dry spells are caused by unequal jj black market distribution, ac- fij cording to Stroup. p Both President Jimmv Carter and Sen. Edward Kennedy are fj sympathetic to NORML's cause, S| Stroup said, but he is disappointed I in Carter for not doing more to p reform marijuana laws, but "at I least he supports decrimin- j? alization." Stroup said he thinks all drugs should be decriminalized, because drug use is a medical problem, not a criminal one. He emphasized that marinanfl and rorninp shnnlH If especially be legalized since neither appears to do users any harm. THE LARGEST contribution MORML received when Stroup was president of the organization was (10,000 in small bills from drug dealers. "Every once in a while we zet some monev with a note. - saying, 'We did good this month' from dealers or a smuggler," he said. Stroup resigned his position at NORML January 1979 because "it was time to move on." Political organizations need leadership changes, he said. Larry Schott took over as director of NORML. Stroup is now working at a law firm representing smugglers and ] major dealers. He said many smugglers spend up to 15 years in jail, "and they don't belong there. Lots of them are real nice people." COLLEGE STUDENTS run into ? fewer problems with marijuana than they do with alcohol. ''Alcohol | is violence-producing, while marijuana makes the user very passive," he said. It is not a good idea for students " to smoke pot while they study, ^ since marijuana often causes ) short-term memory loss, ac- y cording to Stroup. He said he / doesn't smoke before giving a lecture because "it's awful when you get to the middle of a sentence and can't remember what you i were savins " ^ ? ~ y o" J The biggest myth about fl marijuana is that it is a sexual y aphrodisiac, Stroup said. * "Smoking marijuana sometimes causes space and time distortion. What seems like an hour may only be 20 minutes, so many people like i to smoke before having sex." I After interviews with USC and I local media, Stroup presented a L lecture in the Russell House I Ballroom. He also spoke to the USC | chapter of NORML. ' The Ideas and Issues Committee of RHUU sponsored Stroup's USC visit. * " ' 11 ' '* t The GAMECOCK is the student newspspar of the University of South I Carotins and is published three timss ^ week on Mondays. Wadnasdays ond Fridays during the fail and spring semesters and once weekly on Thursdays during both summer sessions with the exception of university hoiidaya end examination periods. Opinion* (?prt>Md in tha GAMECOCK ara thosa of tit* tdHort and not thoaa of tha Unlvtftlty of 8outh Carolina. Tha UnlvaraHy of South Carolina ia an v equal opportunity Institution. \ The Board of Student Pubftcatton* and Communicationa la tha pubdahar of tha V Gemecocfc. Tha Student Madia Office ia tha * parent organisation of tha Gamecocfc. Change of addraaa forma, aubecription request* and other correspondence ahoutd ba aant to tha GAMECOCK, Box 85131, Russell House. UnJvaraHy of B.C., j Columbia. B.C. 2920B. Subscriptk>n rata* J are 65.50 pw MinMtN and *2 for the I k~ jloo?' I Third daee poet age paid at Columbia, I J ,c II f j^^igSSS^ 4 KJ I wMm^W^iMh ' Biy ? - ^9^^bhBBbh^B1!H mm Keith Bill to nullify Senate Judic By Mark Platte Assistant Nstva Editor A bill to nullify the minutes of Senate meetings on Sept. 5 and Sept. 12 was sent to the judiciary committee of the Student Senate Wednesday. The bill, proposed by Sen. Victoria Fox, had first been sent to the Rules Committee, but they considered the decision out of their jurisdiction. The judiciary committee will have their decision at the next Senate meeting, Oct. 3. Section 2 of the SG Constitution states a senatoi must live in the district from which he was ap puuucu miu aincc auuui iuui senators navt changed from one district to another, they shoulc be considered non-senators, according to th< constitution. Since the dismissal of the senators involved ir the district change, there have been two Senate meetings in which non-senators voted on various Y/filh ^ /~~NO s V I u4sef)^p /Vol* at i " llllfesy?* MM!? jH^HBHBli ^ R3|B<? f-^M?.gra"l|T 1 Stroup minutes sent to iary Committee bills, including a vote on a Student Allocations Commission Seat. The nomination of Phil Brown over Susan Morris by a count of 18-17 for seat nine of SAC was held SeDt. 12 Th?? .Tnrii/*ir*rv Committee will decide whether to declare the nomination and two meetings void. The Senate passed a resolution tnat residence halls should be closed from 6 p.m., Nov. 21 until 6 p.m., Nov. 24. This resolution would ensure that adequate staff members be present during the . weekend of the USC-Clemson game. A CfrAim civ oama^AWO ?4 it giuu|i vi oia ocitaiuia wisiiuig lu IUUK I111U I1UW the Homecoming Election Committee works were I selected. They include: Barbara Derrick, Patty Shaughnessy, George Mineff, Valerie Cox, Curtis Loftis and Gary Petill. S "I don't know what the hell is going on with the Homecoming Committee," Mike Warshauer, SG vice president, said. 1979 Homecoming Queen 5 :tion will be held Monday, i /EV-^October 1, 1979.$ p^ace I ? s. between j - ^?^9:00 a.m. j and \ 6:00 a.m. S >C I.D. REQUIRED to vote j INSTITUTIONS. ONE of the following polls: i ouse Patio Pickens Bridgej inter Main Lobby | im Lobby (Blossom St. Side)j II40 M iQ II ^ Hi #11 <FII ^ 11^ M 0 i ^ ^"n ?