To smoke or not to smoke?: "The Great Debate"

"Heads vs. Feds" examines marijuana legalization

HIGH TIMES editor-in-chief Steve Hager and former Drug Enforcement Agency agent Robert Stutman packed "The Great Debate" with their personal stashes of marijuana facts and opinions in Monday night's "Heads vs. Feds," sponsored by the University Program Board.

Moderator Peter Bsumek began the evening with a definition of debate itself: "Debate is about exchanging and challenging ideas and it sometimes gets spirited," according to "Webster's Dictionary."

When the editor-in-chief of HIGH TIMES magazine and a veteran of the DEA came together to debate the legalization of marijuana, "spirited" definitely would be a word to describe it.

Stutman and Hager stood on opposite sides of the stage, as different in appearance and personal histories as in their views on the issue.

Stutman, neatly dressed in a polo shirt and khakis and wearing wire-rim glasses, once was described by Dan Rather as a "true American hero" for his work in the DEA, according to Bsumek's introduction.

Dressed in jeans, a T-shirt emblazoned with a marijuana leaf and a denim jacket with rumpled salt-and-pepper hair, Hager started his first underground newspaper in junior high and has been inducted into the Pop Culture Hall of Fame.

According to Stutman, a common misconception about the two is that they are enemies. In reality, they have become good friends over the course of their debate tour. "Steve and I will attack each other on the issues, but you will never hear us attack each other personally," Stutman said. "I think we've shown that you can disagree without being disagreeable, which is a very important lesson."
Hager and Stutman gave their opening statements, which consisted of their arguments as to why marijuana should or should not be legalized.

According to Hager, there were five reasons why marijuana should be legalized, several of which he read from a book he had called, "Understanding Marijuana," by Mitch Earleywine.

Hager stated in his opening argument that no substance in the world has come closer to treating as many diseases. The seeds and stalks can be used to make more than 50,000 items. For example, hemp can be used to make items like clothes and paper, and hemp seed oil can be used for fuel.
Also, the United States prison system destroys the lives of nonviolent marijuana offenders that do not deserve it and the Drug War is surrounded by corruption, making profits off taxpayers, according to Hager.

However, the issue that appeared to incense him the most was the increasing number of people in the United States who are being prescribed drugs like Paxil, Prozac and Ritalin while marijuana remains illegal, he said. He argued that pharmacuetical companies are getting rich off sick people and that the legal drugs are worse for people in the long run than marijuana. "The pharmaceutical companies fear pot," Hager said. "They don't want to interrupt cash flow to experiment with a basic crop that can grow almost anywhere."

Hager gave his fifth and final reason that marijuana is part of his culture. Since losing faith in the government as a child after the JFK assassinaton, Hager has found spirituality in a "counterculture" that he has adopted as a religion, in which followers connect with one another through the use of marijuana.

Stutman responded by acknowledging that most of the audience disagreed with him, but that in 10 years, it would be on his side after maturing and realizing the detrimental effects of marijuana to health and society. He also agreed with Hager that putting people in jail for the use of a drug is bad policy and that rehabilitation is the answer.

The bulk of Stutman's argument came from medical facts, stating that according to the American Medical Association, marijuana is five times more carcinogenic than tobacco.

He also railed against the argument that "pot is natural, so what's wrong with it?" that he said he has encountered many times from those who disagree with him.

"Arsenic is natural — do we get to vote on how much is in our drinking water?" Stutman said.

He included in his argument that Americans do not have the opportunity to vote on the legality of other drugs and that many of the findings of marijuana's medicinal effects have been countered by medical journals. According to the American Journal of Cancer, smoking marijuana doubles the speed of death for AIDS patients.

Both sides of the argument played over well with the student audience of about 1,300. Wilson Hall was filled to capacity, indicating the popularity of the issue of the legalization of marijuana.

Although students respectfully listened to both Hager and Stutman deliver their opening statements, the climate changed once students stepped to the mic and attempted to rally a debate with their own questions.

Based on the direction of questions, it appeared that most student speakers favored the legalization of marijuana. Some argued that the illegality of marijuana violated First Amendment rights while others questioned health concerns surrounding the plant.

Student rebuttals did not appear to surprise Stutman or Hager, who both admitted that college audiences usually support the legalization of the plant.

Both speakers offered intelligent, thought-provoking closing remarks.

"I did not come here to give you a license to smoke tremendous amounts of pot," Hager said.

"Students have one responsibility in college. And that responsibility is to learn and get their education, not to smoke a joint before a calculus test. You have to respect this plant."

Throughout the debate, Stutman quoted facts backed by professional journals and publications. He also supported himself with experiences with the DEA.

Hager too, pulled information from books, such as the aforementioned "Understanding Marijuana." Throughout the night, Hager made it clear what he preaches comes from "how I feel inside my heart."

Stutman, on the other hand, stood firm with his statistics and although he added personal experiences at times, he relied heavily on leading facts to support his opinion.

Toward the end of the debate, in a more humorous attempt to smoke his opponent, Hager personally invited Stutman to an all-expenses paid trip to Amsterdam courtesy of HIGH TIMES.

Hager said, "I look forward to a stoned conversation with Bob."

Not surprisingly, Stutman turned down the offer, but left many students envious of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Students felt that it was a well-rounded debate.

"You got to hear both sides of the argument and an educated listener could decide for himself," sophomore Chris Chappelear said.

Although Stutman had more concrete evidence to support his argument, Hager remained confident in his stance on the issue to the very end.

"You know what's going to happen once it's legalized," he said. "We're all going to go out on our front lawns, roll a phatty, look across the street to our neighbors and yell, ‘You too?' and we're going to have the biggest party in the world."