Brian Reed was born on the south side of Chicago and currently resides in a dainty little apartment next to that wretched bar known as Station. He enjoys tapping his foot to a good tune and is proud of his overly-obvious and bland sense of humor. He, like John Lennon, also believes the Beatles were bigger than Jesus.
As I strolled through the quad on an absolutely breathtaking April afternoon last semester, something caught my eye on the sidewalk I was trekking over. My opposition to wearing corrective lenses led me to believe that what I thought I was seeing simply did not exist. However, upon further examination, I discovered a rather peculiar drawing gracefully imprinted on the University sidewalk. The red ink stencil included a marijuana leaf and the letters “THC.” For those who don’t know, THC is the abbreviation for tetrahydrocannabinol, that special sauce in those marijuana cigarettes that all the kids seem to be getting groovy on these days.
At first I thought maybe it was present there on the University sidewalk for an upcoming hippie rally or something of that nature, but no date or location of such a fun-loving freedom funk fest was visible. After noticing a few of these obviously pro-marijuana stencils in and around the quad, I began to wonder exactly what University officials thought of this rebellious yet subtle undertaking. Tour group after tour group of prospective students and parents were stumbling over these stencils quicker than you can say "This bong is cashed," and no one seemed to be doing a thing about it.
The University’s lack of reaction to these substance stencils have led me to believe that the school’s image regarding drug policy is not a top priority. The relaxed attitude regarding this outcry for the espousal of marijuana may be turning away the highly-regarded prospective students, at least the ones that are not busy grooving to crunchy jams while helplessly awaiting a Phish reunion tour.
With Illinois in line to be one of the next states to allow medicinal marijuana in the near future, I am not surprised at the existence of such stencils at the state’s largest public university. However, even with the current marijuana craze in this country, I find it surprising that the University has not even attempted to remove these stencils from its public walkways. This liberal mentality regarding marijuana on campus may result in some heated debates in the years to come as medicinal uses of the drug become more prevalent. With a new president taking office at the end of the year, changes might be made regarding drug policy and people will be forced to choose sides on the subject matter. Soon enough, citizens nationwide, smokers and non-smokers alike, will have to decide which side of the marijuana fence has the greener grass.
Comments (16)
Thursday, June 19, 2008 10:52 AM
um, really? stencils of pot leaves may turn away prospective non-phish fan students? it would be nice if it were argued rather than assumed that people who smoke pot are generally rebellious hippies interested in phish and "getting groovy" and "fun-loving freedom funk fests," especially if this article intends to objectively mention "drug policy" rather than disingenuously put forward sixties-reminiscent anti-marijuana propaganda.
Thursday, June 19, 2008 11:09 AM
Liz -
Calm down. Smoke a bowl or some shit.
:-)
Thursday, June 19, 2008 11:18 AM
better yet - eat some brownies and go walk around in urbana at night.
Thursday, June 19, 2008 2:28 PM
marijuana "craze". i'd say 40+ years is a long "craze". from the police to the public, the view on pot has been getting increasingly lax over the last ten years. it's college, having a strict drug policy would be as futile as... well, the government having a strict drug policy. oh wait, they kinda do, or did. yeah, that worked. i say we show incoming students 'Reefer Madness' at orientation.
Thursday, June 19, 2008 4:32 PM
Wow, Liz is right, outdated stereotypes ahoy.
Friday, June 20, 2008 5:23 AM
Regardless of symbol there are people on this campus and both cities who are well paid to remove graffiti of any nature and are not doing it. And that also includes the rival gang symbols of those who sell "pot." Yes, there are gangs, violence and is it kept quiet, you bet your european vacation, it is. This drug may indeed be harmless in itself but make no mistake, its sold in the summer by the same folks who pedal crack and meth in the winter though the target customer base may be only occasionally overlap.
The lax attitude of those offering it up in the university community don't seem to take responsibility for the havoc this industry affects the low income communities. Generally children immune from punishment are the runners. Large amounts of cash, loyalties, violent enforcement of secrets, and income a child's mom can't garnish can be more harmful than supporting sweat shops.
Friday, June 20, 2008 5:46 AM
Oh an one more thing about graffiti. For all those folks from scary neighborhoods who may know what the symbols mean -its a kinda of threat. It says "we are here if to know us is to fear us, stay out of our way, you did'nt seen anything, you are not going to speak, you still have a kid sister in the seventh grade back home someone just may have to visit her, you may be at college but we know where you live now and then."
In case you folks from suburbs were wondering.
Friday, June 20, 2008 8:01 AM
ad has been smoking phat bowls, y'all...
Friday, June 20, 2008 2:55 PM
Dude, if you think college kids are buying pot from gang members and that there are "seasons" for drugs, you are smoking something a lot stronger than weed. You talk like you think you know what you are talking about and that is the part that makes me feel embarrassed for you.
Friday, June 20, 2008 3:43 PM
to know us is to fear us
truly the banner slogan of all the stoners i know. they really scream this one from the couches. through a mouthful of chips ahoys.
Friday, June 20, 2008 3:54 PM
I hear that kids with vaporizers are the most dangerous, and they ALL come from Naperville.
Friday, June 20, 2008 5:11 PM
"Dude, if you think college kids are buying pot from gang members..."
Unless you grow your own pot, the money you use to buy it goes to very bad people somewhere up the chain who engage in violence and intimidation in the service of delivering their product to you.
Of course, the same could be said for oil too, I guess...
The point is, anytime you buy something, you are giving power in the form of money to someone. It isn't a value neutral decision - buying drugs does affect more than just the partaker.
Friday, June 20, 2008 6:44 PM
Dan - Right you are.
But the sensationalized viewpoint that "ad" espoused in his/her rant is anything but the well thought out and collected argument that you make. No one's little sister is getting a visit in the middle of the night in Naperville because of a $50 1/8 of dank nugs. Trust me on this one.
I think the point is that, yes, somewhere along the line, someone "bad," as you say it, is getting rich from our purchases, whether it be pot, oil or goods of any kind.
And in other news, the sun is currently revolving around the earth...er...wait, is it the other way around? Damn! Can't remember! ;)
Friday, June 20, 2008 7:09 PM
Dan S. I really enjoy your articles and thus respect you, but it is misinformed to say that all people engaged in the movement of marijuana are bad people engaged in violence. If it is coming from Mexico, yeah it probably is passing through the hands of such people. However, there are many growing operations in the US and Canada that are run by people that are more likely to offer you some tofu than to pop a cap in your ass.
Not to say that they are all hippies, they are doing it to make money, more than they could working a legitimate job, but the point is that no one is getting shot over, as Seth put it, $50 1/8's of the sweet shit coming in from BC.
Saturday, June 21, 2008 10:31 AM
...all people engaged in the movement of marijuana are bad people engaged in violence.
Well, I didn't say that exactly - Seth had it right. My main point is that somewhere along the line, bad people benefit from the sale of drugs.
Yes, it is true that this is the case for many of the goods we buy. But you have to admit that drugs have a far worse problem in this area that other goods. Because they are illegal, it is inevitable that bad guys are going to be involved, and that violence will eventually be used. This isn't usually the case for, say, the electronic devices we buy.
I think drugs should be legalized for exactly this reason - take the windfall profit motive away and you take away a lot of the violence that goes into drug transactions. It would be a messy solution, but probably better than the current situation.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 3:19 PM
There we agree, when it goes bad its a medical issue and best dealt with that way.
Jailing everyone not in the elite is not working to protect those most unprotected in the system.
A new tax form is the best form of punishment any unethical business man could get.
And besides it would leave more room in the jails for those who would intimidate via actions or graffiti.