Drugs misrepresented

Mark Berkson

Editors Note: Last week, in part one of this series, we considered how the lives of two women and their families were affected by the war on drugs. This week, we will analyze the war on drugs.


Is it possible that the war on drugs interferes with religious freedom or is environmentally unfriendly?

Mark Berkson, professor of religious studies at Hamline University, challenges the idea that such a thing as a war is even necessary in the context of drugs.

Berkson, who joined NOVA's week-long series of non-violent alternatives, under the co-sponsorship of National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Law for the second year in a row, was well received by the crowd of 40 in Atwood Theater Jan. 28.

"Society can legally engage in the risky behaviors of sky diving and eating fast food," Berkson said. "All they need for that is informed consent."

Outlawing either of those activities that may be dangerous to your health may sound irrelevant or ridiculous, but Berkson had a point to make. While people are allowed to legally participate in some dangerous behaviors, American Indians, Rastafaris and other native groups have been prohibited from practicing their own religions, due to the fact that drug laws make portions of their traditional rituals illegal. In a country that theoretically has freedom of religion, speech and expression, Berkson pointed out that such laws may seem contradictory.

Berkson also discussed some of the conflicting messages we receive about drugs in our society. For example, at the same time as society is discouraged and prohibited from consuming marijuana, it is encouraged through commercials to consume drugs like Prozac and Viagra. As long as mixed messages are sent, the FDA may continue to see collisions of its own policies, as it did with Riddilin. While Riddilin appeared to be the quick solution to teacher's nightmares with inattentive students and the cure for Attention Deficit Disorder, it is now one of the most misused substances in schools.

Jan Peterson, of St. Cloud, challenged the misconception that hemp and marijuana are the same thing.

While marijuana is big and bushy, hemp comes in tall stalks with some leaves on the top. "It's ridiculous for the government to say that people couldn't be trained to tell the two apart,"Peterson said. "If I was a law enforcement officer I would be insulted by that."

Although, Peterson would prefer to see both marijuana and hemp legal, she believes hemp is environmentally necessary.

Peterson explained that while regular paper can be recycled three times, hemp paper can be recycled seven times. This alone could reduce on the amount of trees that have to be cut down to produce paper.

"We need this planet to survive," Peterson said. "It doesn't need us (humans); we're simply tearing it apart."

Peterson also explained that hemp has enough nutrients in it to make the human body thrive. Throughout the presentation, Peterson shared many interesting facts about the way hemp can be used, and ended with a self written poem and an appeal for people to educate themselves and get involved.

"When do we get off of our apathetic American asses and do something," Peterson said in a challenge to young Americans to educate themselves about the American government's policies on drugs.

"The time to create change was yesterday, the time to act is today," Peterson said with a hopeful smile.

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Sharon K. Sobotta can be reached at: [email protected]

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