Pro-pot

By Jeanette Rackl

Copy Editor

Pot.

No, not the pot that the kettle calls black, but a much more insidious type of pot. This three-letter word is one of the most divisive in modern society.

Marijuana users are relegated to the status of pot-pariah, while non-users imagine themselves to be morally superior. But without this supposedly sinister drug, America would be a much different place.

Sure, naysayers argue that perhaps America would have less violence and theft, but I challenge them to find a high kid who has the motivation or energy to actually commit a crime. I've heard of stoners willingly watching Dr. Phil because they didn't want to get up and find the remote. Anyone that lazy isn't likely to experience the impulse to rob a bank.

And while the medical benefits are highly debatable, the economic, cinematic, literary and musical profits of marijuana's existence have shaped pop culture for the better.

Let's start with economics. The continued production of Doritos, Hot Pockets, Bagel Bites and Mountain Dew all rest in the hands of stoners. No one else consumes these products en masse; however, if potheads didn't, they would be discontinued, leaving everyone else at a loss when searching for terrible junk food.

Taco Bell understands this, targeting their Fourth Meal campaign directly at the marijuana-imbibing demographic. And every time you get a McChicken, you should thank high kids everywhere for ensuring the dollar menu exists.

Without marijuana, the premise for HBO's Weeds, Discovery's Planet Earth and Shark Weekand every Kevin Smith movie produced would be removed. Can you imagine a world without Annie Hall? That's a world without pot.

Ken Kesey, Jack Kerouac, Hunter S. Thompson: notable and vocal pot-heads, and also some of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Taking stoners out of literature classes leaves us with maybe the Bronte sisters – maybe.

Finally, music from Puff the Magic Dragon to Pink Floyd to Snoop Dogg all inundates us with laced messages about the drug.

No matter whether you abstain from using pot or you're reading this article through bloodshot eyes, I think we all should recognize what marijuana has done for popular culture and respect the fringe benefits.

 

Anti-pot

By Alan Thompson

Guest Writer

"Weed never killed anyone." Right?

The same thing could be said of Rebecca Black's YouTube hit, "Friday," which has collected more than 110 million "hits" (pun intended). There hasn't been such fervor since Miley Cyrus' legendary "Party In the U.S.A." last year.

But popularity isn't the only thing that the two controversial subjects share.

Both are addicting. While experts and myself are uncertain of the physically addictive properties of marijuana or "Friday," it is obvious that people are addicted to the feeling of each.

I'm not condemning marijuana, nor "Friday" for that matter. Who am I to stop you from feeling so "high" like a G6?

Regardless, Dartmouth College's health promotion site lists "discontinuities in linear thought" and "difficulties with short-term memory" as just a few of the negative results of smoking marijuana. Perhaps I'm not the only one that has noticed the similarities between "Friday" and weed. Now I understand why she reviews the days of the week.

There are serious academic and legal consequences for such an action.

Recreational marijuana use is against federal law. If caught, you will lose yourscholarships and likely be referred to a law enforcement agency.

In addition, you could be fined or incarcerated, and your offense will be on your record when you go job hunting in a few years.

And if getting in trouble isn't enough to make you think twice, Dartmouth College's health promotion site states that marijuana tends to "reduce nausea and suppress the gag reflex," making it tough for a person with a "toxic BAC to vomit, thus increasing the risk of alcohol poisoning." So those who combine marijuana and alcohol are at an even greater risk.

The decision is yours. While I enjoy the mostly nasal sounds of Ms. Black, I don't expect all others to feel the same. I realize that everyone has different preferences regarding marijuana use.

And while I do not personally support it, I believe it to be such a controversial topic because there is so much uncertainty about the drug.

Because of the proven negative effects, more substantial research is needed before it can be deemed whether or not it should be used recreationally.