Restricting marijuana: A Bill of Rights violation?

By Ram Luthra
Staff Reporter

The argument to legalize drugs, especially marijuana, has taken a new, constitutionally-based form on the TCU campus, Michael Katovich, professor of sociology, said.

Katovich makes the argument using the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment prohibits people from enduring cruel and unusual punishment. He said people can translate the amendment to show pain as a form of cruelty because they cannot receive treatment offered from the illegal drugs.

Katovich said legalization of marijuana should be closely looked at from an angle of humanity. He said the use of marijuana for medical purposes should be carefully re-examined because of the problems many people are suffering. The problem people endure is the inability to obtain this drug for medical treatment. The drug can be used efficiently to reduce the pain patients suffer. He said approximately one-tenth of the population in the United States is in severe pain everyday.

“The illegality of drugs, especially marijuana, has caused major anxieties for patients who really need these drugs,” Katovich said. “These problems were ignored when these drugs were proclaimed illegal.”

He said the prescribed drugs presently available are not well-suited for all patients. Katovich said the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) capsule doctors prescribe to reduce the effects of glaucoma vary in effectiveness. He said the capsules are set to relieve pain of a certain degree, instead of a variation of pain patients may suffer.

“People should have the right to choose the type of medication in accordance to the pain they feel,” he said. “Some patients may take the capsule offered from doctors or patients can simply smoke a joint or add the leaves on their food or their drink to reduce the pain.”

Katovich said legalizing the drug could be hard, but it’s not unachievable.

“There will probably be no immediate change, but in order to have these drugs more accessible certain things must happen,” he said.

“There must be a poster person who has to publicly advocate legalization of the drugs. This person must be an innocent person, who has suffered severe pain after being denied access to these drugs.”

The public has a negative perception toward drugs because of the many marketing campaigns against them. Katovich said the “War on Drugs” program has altered the ability for medical doctors to prescribe drugs for people in pain.

“The doctor-patient relationship has dramatically changed,” he said. “Doctors are supposed to be a type of a healer, but now they are becoming restricted from that role because of the various laws. (Doctors) are now resorting to a role of a cop, who has to regulate the level of medication to accommodate the law, instead of the patient.”

He said changing these perceptions will take major rethinking on the stance.

“We need to isolate the current stigma of always attaching the negative effects of the use of drugs,” Katovich said. “Instead, people should entertain themselves with the positive effects of drugs.”

Kelly Ham, TCU detective of criminal investigations, said drug-related incidents are one of the many problems TCU has to deal with.

“Drugs are a problem on the TCU campus,” Ham said. “But it is not a major problem.”

Ham said there are only one or two drug-related incidents reported in a semester.

Since 1998, there have been 17 drug-related incidents reported to the TCU police department. Nine of those incidents have involved marijuana.

The most recent incident occurred this year on Feb. 11. Two students were disciplined by Campus Life after being caught smoking marijuana in their room in Clark Residence Hall. The students were not charged for any criminal violations, but they have been referred to the TCU Alcohol and Drug Education Center.

According to the Alcohol and Drug Education Center, in 1998, 35.3 percent of students surveyed said they have used marijuana sometime in their life. TCU was far below the national average of 46 percent. In the same year, 22.9 percent of TCU students said they have used marijuana at least once within the past year. Again, the TCU average was below the national average of 32.4 percent.

Katovich said that even if marijuana is legalized some people will abuse the drug. Students are more likely to fall into the category of those who may use the drugs for inappropriate purposes, but Katovich said that problem will resolve itself as problems of alcohol do.

“There might be a healthy population of students who will use drugs if they become legal,” he said. “But most of those will only use the drugs in moderation. Students smoke marijuana like they drink alcohol. It is simply a time-out experience for them.”

Ram Luthra
r.d.luthra@student.tcu.edu