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?Guest Column? Marijuana Who smokes at I JSC By Tony Caradonna Journalism Senior The other day someone mentioned something to me I thought would be interesting to pursue. He said, "Tony. 1 know you get high, you're a journalism major; you guys are more hip than, say, business majors." I took it as a compliment but thought that this belief needed more research to assess its truth. I decided to tyke a survey of journalism and business majors to find out just who is getting high more often. One hundred students were surveyed, half in each major. The survey revealed 62 percent of the business students have tried pot compared to 78 percent of the journalism students and that exactly 22 percent in each major said they smoked pot at least once per week. The widest discrepancy came on the question of whether marijuana should be legalized. Eighty percent of the journalism students said yes, while only 34 percent of those in business thought so. There was space left for comments on the questionnaire, and here is where the journalism students did what they do best ? write. More than twice as manv journalism students cavo fpprihnrk on th#? marijuana issue. One journalism student states, "If government wants to hold down inflation and stop the mafia from distributing it and making millions, it will have to be legalized." The millions is quite an understatement. Last year Americans spent $25 billion on their pleasure. One hundred thirty thousand pounds is consumed per day, quadruple the 1974 consumption. The business students were equally creative on their comments. One said, "The only problem with marijuana on campus is finding it." One of the regular smokers drew a beautiful marijuana leaf across the questionnaire. Marijuana is no longer something talked about behind closed doors I 1 I f > ? * " ' \ciinu'u^ii me ujw nci^ iuiccu il iu dc oeaii wun mis way), lime magazine ran a cover story on marijuana in January 1979. The article stated that marijuana has been used since at least the 15th century B.C. when the Chinese used it as an anesthetic. Only since 1965 has scientific experimentation begun to weigh its dangers and benefits on developing youngsters. Psychological problems are also being studied. Little is actually known, but 42 million Americans have tried pot and have "made smoking it the most widely accepted illegal indulgence since drinking during Prohibition " There was a book on marijuana advertised on television this cnrisimas season that parents can order by mail. It tells of marijuana's dangers and pitfalls, even though there is little actual medical knowledge available. These ads seem reminiscent of the 1930 movies like "Reefer Madness" which showed people going insane after toking a few puffs. The book, available for $9.95, is designed for parents to give their children and is entitled, "With Love From Dad " USC's chapter of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) president Jim Robbins feels that legalization may be within the 1980s. Many states have moved to decriminalization, and some have made it legal for medicinal purposes. "The danger," says Robbins, "is not with the substance, but with the individual using it." A _ f 1- - ... - ~ /\s iar as wno is using it, my survey shows no particular group outsmoking the other, but there are indeed people indulging in the effects of this precarious weed. CjamecQck Opinion Founded 1 908 Tom Travis Editor m Chuff Letters Brian Duncan Copy Di-sW Chief . ,r , , . ine taumrvovK welcomes letters irom us Michael Gooding News Editor * ... , , . . ... . readers. All letters must be typewritten and Brett FneiJiiindei Spons Edm>t triple spaced on a 65-space line and should be a James Rokusnv Emu?a.nm?m Ediio. maximum of :<oo words letters must Ix* signed with the writer s Robert Anaii Graphics Editor correct name, telephone, mailing address. Janet Gibson Editonai Page Ed.to. class standing and major Pseudonyms are unacceptable, but the writer s name may be Cylmda Calvert Wire Editor withheld by request if circumstances warrant. Mark Platte Assistant News Ed.to. We reserve the right to edit letters for space and style Address letters to: Campus Opinion. Steve R.ddell Assistant Sports Editor The (iameiock. Drawer A. USC. Columbia. Carl Rabcock Graduate Assistant S.C. 29208. Anthony Gray Advertising Manager f B'll Outlaw General Manager columns William Tirislcy Production Manager , _ In an effort to increase reader input into rtr tiiridqi*. ( ( Vi.??:r future issues, the (iamnmk offers a weekly guest column. Newsroom Hi /'hi Columns must be limited to one newsworthy Advertising !'' 4^49 subject and must be no more than four typed Business Oilier !); <mhh pages All columns must be typewritten and triple spaced on a fi;Vspace line All facts must be accurate The editorial page editor Sole mprodut |"oi. riijt is j?.? i.I i.. tin . . . . . . . reserves the right to reject anv column for an\ Assor idli-'l I'ifV. AII , 11 .1 in i.in-r i.il ( nnfi I , . * . . reason and edit lor space, content, stvle and Ml.IV Mi ( t>v t '.'I'"' it' <1 WtlflOli* |h?* f .ucunuy Columns must be signed with correct name 0|) i> ?(>ri'she<f i" Hi-- (i.inic/, >, address, telephone, major and class standing ,.f t'" wmi'i mil .t or faculty position Address columns to (iiiesl ,.1 the s.r ,.(jttoi i mjii Column. The (lamecock. Drawrr A cm V J L'nlu in 1)1(1, S C 29'JOH , ? OPERATION : &(tAHeort*1'e? ? * OestuwUwi: I, g g |||^||i|||||||| ^'^'jggg|gggggg^^ggg| Congress quesl Afghanistan a WASHINGTON ? Congress comes back to work next week in a grim demanding mood. The legislators want some tough answers from Jimmy Carter on Iran and Afghanistan. Since the seizure of the hostages in Tehran anrl rhr? Soviet takeover in Kabul, Congress and Carter's potential White House successors, Republican and Democrat alike, have observed a reluctant cease-fire while Khomeini and the Kremlin have treated him as a pygmy president. They've been patient as he's pursued a course of caution through the United Nations and economic pressures that were scoffed at by the captors of the hostages in the embassy and the Soviet leaders who overran Afghanistan with raw armed aggression. THE POLITICAL sands are running out on Carter at home in a presidential election year. When Congress reconvenes on Jan. 22, questions will be asked on the Senate and House floors about the caliber of his leadership and his advisers. Members of both thp Sprints anH Hnnco _ WW %? W JL AVUOV Committee are preparing for early top-secret hearings. CIA and administration officials will have to explain the Iranian fiasco starting from the precipitous White House decision to allow the shah to enter this country for medical treatment. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is also anxious to investigate the handling of the crisis. Our sources say the prestigious committee wants to know why intelligence agencies failed to predict the shah's entry would touch off the violent response by A t-ll-L in * rtyaiuuau ivnomeini s nencnmen, why no adequate response to the outrageous embassy seizure was forthcoming and why no one in Washington knew who was really calling the shots in the frenzied Iranian hierarchy. CONGRESS WILL also want to know why the Carter administration ignored advance warnings by Pakistan that the Russians were about to embrace neighboring Afghanistan in a bearlike grip. We've learned that only a few weeks before the airborne Soviet invasion of the mountainous gateway to Pakistan and Iran, a delegation of Pakistani diplomats met with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and his aides to sound the alarm. They predicted that Red Army units were prepared to move in on the puppet regime. But our Foggy Bottom policy makers ignored the clear alert, and Carter had to confess that he was caught by surprise by the Soviet move. The president says he has now learned to distrust the Russians ? almost as mi^-h as his State t/t jicji line-in cApcris uisuenevea me Pakistanis. Ambitious mis The Soviet thrust into the Persian Gulf may next claw off a bit of Iran according to our intelligence sources. They say Soviet troops now occupying Afghanistan may provide help to anti Khomeini wiwn.iran. /front of the American / Emfcessy. Step #2. We <3S& I Khomeini if anybody 5 home ^ \ it should worK > it's J ?1 ^^ ^ </ * 1U11& dl ICI Uil nd Iran crises rebels in the southeastern Iranian province of Baluchistan. REI) ARMY troops can easily funnel arms and supplies to the Baluchi insurgents across the border to help undermine Khomeini's support. We've also been told to look for the Soviets to offer the Rallichis Slinnort in octnMichinc* on atitr?nf\?rw?nc --r, ~u.nMi.uw.ln, W.I UUIUIIUII1UUO state in return for the Russian fleet being given access to the port of Shabahar. That would give the Red Navy a commanding strategic port on the Indian Ocean. W atoh on waste me government took a hefty bite out of every wage earner's paycheck beginning this month for higher Social Security deductions. The Social Security Administration is crying poverty as the excuse. But we've learned that the administration paid out nearly $20 million two years ago to the states for administrative costs. FOUR STATES, California, Colorado, New York and Texas. overeharepH fWWoi ffAirnrnmont K\; - D .VUVtWl (jU ? V> nearly $750,000. That's a 3.75 percent ripoff. The Social Security tax rate for the average American this year amounts to 6.13 percent of his earnings. Next year it goes to 6.65 percent. ? OLD AIH FORCE generals don't always fade away. aumeumes uiey re Kept alive on movie film at taxpayer expense. In recent years, film technicians at Norton Air Force Base in California have gone Hollywood in shooting "This-Is-Your-Life" type movies for retiring brass hats. Here are two examples of the military extravagances: Upon his retirement in 1977, Gen. Paul Carlton was presented with a 13-minute reel hailing his accomplishments as commander of the Military Airlift f!nmm anH If nrwi f A AAA ? ' ^ ? ??. v.wi fii,uuu ui uie renu?Ku" ? multibillion budget. STRATEGIC AIR COMMANDER, Gen. Russell Dougherty, was the star of a 27-minute film when he left the service. The tab was $22,220 and would have cost more except the narrator, Tennessee Ernie Ford, donated his services. A recent Air Force investigation has finally written an end to the spendthrift scenario. ? Here's another bit of government waste to make you weep. The National Science Foundation has adled out $63, MX) to Dartmouth College researchers to study what makes you laugh or cry. ()^ Pn)Jec^ is known in scientific jargon aS.#- ^?'e ^ac'a' Expression of Emotion in the Activation and Conditioning of Emotional Behavior." ' ootnote: It you have examples of government extravagance, write to Jack Anderson's Watch on Waste, P.O Box 2300, Washington, D.C. 20013. Citpynghi. I 9HO. United Feature Syndicate, Inc