By Kayla Samek—College campuses are a ripe place for experimentation—with ideas, with sex, and especially with drugs, legal and illegal. Marijuana is one of those drugs, and because of recent decriminalization rulings in states like Colorado and Washington, it has gained popularity and incited controversy. “Marijuana goes Mainstream” was an interdisciplinary dialogue that discussed how legalization could impact the economy and how not legalizing marijuana could impact society. The dialogue was held in the UPS Auditorium at Morningside College on Tuesday, February 17. The discussion filled the room with students and professors alike. Dr. David Elder of writing and rhetoric and Professor Kitty Green of history gave more information on the controversial drug that has made its way into politics and household conversations.
The dialogue was the brainchild of the new EPS Department—economics, political science, and sociology. “Marijuana goes Mainstream” is the first in the series of interdisciplinary talks that will become a regular event at Morningside. Once every semester, these discussions will cover a “controversial topic” in order to “spark a lively debate and thoughts,” said Geoff Harkness. Harkness, a sociology professor, led the dialogue between Kitty Green and David Elder. Green provided the history of cannabis—marijuana—usage in America while Dr. Elder shed light on how Americans talk about marijuana.
Students were encouraged to attend, one of which was Allison Linnafelter, a freshman who felt that she “learned a lot of history from Kitty and about race issues.” Another freshman, Hope Philbrick, said that she “didn’t really have an opinion about marijuana,” but now she “has enough information to form an opinion.”
Even though it has long been categorized as a dangerous drug, marijuana was popularly seen beneficial and, Green stated, that this view “could come around again.” Elder stated that many tactics used to argue against legalization of the use of the drug, for either recreational or medical purposes, are “logical fallacies” that do not accurately portray the statistics. Green and Elder voiced that marijuana will remain controversial for years to come.
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