Group seeking legal marijuana establishes campus chapter

Fresno NORML chapter opens Free Speech Area booth to distribute materials, recruit

By Brent VonCannon
The Collegian

Aron Oblath envisions a future where marijuana users would no longer have to fear getting caught, where the drug would be legal and regulated much the same way as alcohol and tobacco. And he’s formed a new student club in order to share that vision.

NORML, or National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, is a nationwide, non-profit group dedicated to the decriminalization of marijuana. Oblath, a senior music major, has served as president of the new Fresno State chapter of NORML since its inception earlier this semester.

“Right now we’re just trying to get the word out that we’re here,” Oblath said.

The new club opened a booth in the Free Speech Area last Wednesday around noon and plans to continue to do so in coming weeks. Manned by four students — “pretty much the extent of our membership so far” as Oblath put it — the booth provided informational brochures, meeting times and a sign-up list. The first meeting was held Thursday night in the University Student Union.

Oblath said he and his club plan to largely follow the national organization’s policies and tactics.

These tactics include distributing information and lobbying for or against marijuana-related legislation.

All chapters work together, Oblath said, at least when it comes to voicing opinion and grass-roots activism.

“We help promote NORML’s three main goals — decriminalization of marijuana for personal use, medicinal use and allowing for industrial hemp production,” Oblath said. But he emphasized the need for personal responsibility whenever a drug is used.

“Marijuana legalization isn’t a free-for-all,” Oblath said. He explained marijuana possession by minors and driving under the influence are things that wouldn’t be allowed under marijuana regulation.

Others at the booth agreed with Oblath’s perceived benefits of marijuana legalization.

“We pay for marijuana whether it’s legal or not,” said Cesar Perez, a junior and vice president of the club, pointing to legal costs. He suggested that marijuana, as a legal drug, could be taxed and thus contribute to economic growth and debt reduction.

“And there are so many industrial uses for hemp,” Oblath added. “Hemp grows faster than trees and is environmentally friendly.” Hemp, a strain of marijuana, is legally grown in many countries throughout the world to produce commodities such as paper, clothes and cosmetics.

Oblath acknowledged that NORML’s position on an illegal drug may make some people uncomfortable.

“Some people are afraid to approach us and are scared to get involved,” Oblath said. “We aren’t a club for smoking marijuana. We do push for decriminalization, to allow people to use it responsibly. We just plan, more than anything else.”

NORML’s position that marijuana is relatively safe runs counter to long-standing national and state drug policy, which casts marijuana as, among other things, physically harmful, mentally destructive, addictive and a gateway to harder drugs.

Indeed, marijuana offenses are far more common nationwide than offenses for any other illegal drug, and Fresno State is no exception. There were 29 arrests made by University Police for possession or use of marijuana in 2005, compared to just 10 arrests for other illegal drugs, said Amy Armstrong, public information officer with University Police. Armstrong added that 15 marijuana-related arrests have been recorded so far this year, compared to three for other illegal drug offenses.

Those arrests would largely be done away with under NORML’s agenda, which calls for removing all civil and criminal penalties based on “responsible” marijuana use. The new chapter on campus believes the drug would lose its negative stigma if it were allowed to be used and discussed openly.

“If the public is educated, it [marijuana] can be controlled,” Oblath said.

The next NORML chapter meeting is scheduled for October 26 at 6:15 p.m. in the University Student Union, room 317.

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