# High Times Bestows High Honors on MU



## LdyLunatic (Sep 7, 2006)

Missouri -- MU has earned yet another recognition, though this is one some students, parents and alumni might not brag about.
The university has received high marks from a monthly stoner-friendly guide. High Times magazine ranks MU third on the list of university campuses helping to soften the nations pot laws. 

The magazines October 2006 issue recognizes the efforts of two student organizations  the MU chapters of Students for Sensible Drug Policies and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws  that helped pass two city propositions.

One protects medical marijuana patients from criminal penalties; the other decriminalizes marijuana and makes the drug the lowest priority for law enforcement.

The High Times article is a little misleading  it characterizes the propositions as a student project  but the campaign was more diverse than that, said Columbia attorney Dan Viets, who is on the board of directors for the Columbia Alliance for Patients and Education, which helped pass the propositions in November 2004.

However, students were some of the hardest workers in the campaign, especially in terms of petitioning, he said.

Sean Randall, a junior in MUs political science program and chapter president of NORML, said he knew about the article in July.

The biggest thing that these propositions did was it really took the issue of marijuana and brought it out in the open in this community, Randall said. It made a whole lot more people realize that this isnt an extremely left, liberal initiative that can only get passed in California.

Kris Krane, executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policies, who compiled the list of colleges for High Times, said he appreciates the magazine for honoring activism.

The war on drugs, since its modern conception, has been justified in protecting children, Krane said. Its incumbent of college students to say, No more. Not in our name.

Randall said he is excited about the article and said he hopes people dont think that this a lot of people who get stoned a lot.

If they read the article and read why we were considered, theyll realize that were a good group of people, he said.

The writer and editor of the article, Dave Bienenstock, said the magazine has made lists similar to this in the past and has picked colleges with the best pot or which school is the most counterculture in general, but this is the first year it has focused on activism.

Any college in America is going to have its marijuana smokers and marijuana culture, Bienenstock said. We try to have a little different focus each year.

Mary Jo Banken, an MU spokeswoman, declined to comment on the list.

MU doesnt typically respond to rankings, because the rankings are apt to vary widely from year to year and from publication to publication, she said.

Note: Student groups were praised for helping pass pro-pot propositions.

Source: Columbia Missourian (MO)
Author: Tina Marie Macias
Published: September 7, 2006 
Copyright: 2006 Columbia Missourian


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