By Andrea Uhdekentucky Kernel (U. Kentucky)04/16/2002
(U-WIRE) LEXINGTON, Ky. – It’s a warm Saturday afternoon, and eight friends, four of whom are University of Kentucky students, crowd into the living room of an apartment off Tates Creek Road. Sitting elbow-to-elbow on two couches, they’re surrounded by a haze of smoke. The perfume of a freshly lit joint fills the room.
A girl with long brown hair squints her eyes and takes the first hit, pressing it to her lips to inhale. Vibrations from a hip-hop record spinning on a turntable set the mood. One guy begins to pluck stems and seeds out of his stash to prepare for the next joint.
Move aside, Jack and Jim. College students have another friend: Mary Jane. Roughly 33.6 percent of college students have smoked marijuana in the last year, according to the 2000 findings by the Core Institute, a nonprofit organization which seeks to assist higher education institutions in drug and alcohol prevention efforts. And almost everyone — from administration to the students themselves — will admit that a number of UK students smoke the illegal drug or have tried it. Signs of it are everywhere.
At Special Media, a new-age book and gift store on South Limestone Street, “Indoor Marijuana Horticulture,” by Jorge Cervantes, has recently made its way on to the top-10 bestsellers list. And at Beyond the Wall, a poster store next to Special Media, posters with marijuana leaves have become a popular buy, with two to three sold each week. By the time the joint has burned away, Reeda, a psychology sophomore, has curled up on the couch, her now bloodshot eyes glancing from one person to another.
She says she began smoking her senior year of high school and ever since, it has been a weekly routine. “Smoking weed helps me,” she says. “The semester I made the Dean’s List, I smoked more weed than I had in my entire life.”
UK Police arrested 91 students for drugs and drug paraphernalia offenses last year. In most cases, the drug was marijuana, says Anna Bowling, the assistant dean of students. The number of students caught with drugs has steadily climbed since 1995, when 15 offenses were recorded.
Though UK Police can’t say that this means more students are smoking, they do say that police have been trained better in the area and, at the same time, marijuana may have become more available. Most marijuana confiscated by UK police is found in campus buildings, police say. Last year, 27 students were found with marijuana in residence halls and 20 have been cited for it so far this year, said Geoff Bradley, the assistant director of student rights. Most of the students don’t sell or distribute the drug. “Usually, we find people with small amounts of marijuana for personal use,” said Sgt. Tiua Chilton of the UK Police. Chris, a linguistics junior, leans his head against Reeda. “Our dealers are our friends. We hang out with them,” he says. He spends about $90 a month on the drug, which he smokes “pretty much every day.”
Aaron, an undeclared freshman, sits smoking a cigarette on the other couch.
Aaron says he usually just buys enough pot for a few hits. Still, he gets high every day. “I don’t really feel right if I don’t smoke once a day,” he says.
Not all students get high or advocate the drug’s legalization.
According to a survey in the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 34.2 percent of college freshman are in favor of legalizing marijuana.
The number has slowly decreased since its peak in 1977, when more than half of all college freshman wanted legalization. Allison Bair, an undeclared sophomore, has never smoked marijuana, despite the fact that most of her friends regularly smoke.
“I never had any real desire to smoke it,” she said. “I see no purpose behind it.” Kristin, a telecommunications senior, has gotten high before, but now chooses not to. “I hate weed,” she said. “It makes me totally unmotivated and I don’t feel like doing anything.”
After joint number two, Chris curls up and falls asleep. Others slip off into a conversation about “Half Baked,” a movie about pot smokers who become big-time dealers. By midnight, everyone is too tired to keep their eyes open, so they meander out the door, one after another. But tomorrow, they’ll be back.
Editor’s Note: No last names are used in this story and some first names have been changed to protect the privacy of students.
