Supporters of marijuana policy reform have long been viciously mischaracterized and stereotyped by our opposition. We are called druggies and losers. Our views are dismissed as unserious and irresponsible, fueled perhaps by excessive consumption of the drugs we want legalized. But according to Gallup Poll data, we are more likely to be college educated:

Americans with some college education -- from those who have attended at least one college course to those who have postgraduate degrees -- are somewhat more likely than those without a college degree to say marijuana should be legal in the country. Thirty-seven percent of adults with a college education support legalization, compared with 31% of those with no college education.

This makes perfect sense if one understands that opposition to the war on marijuana users emerges from a thousand perspectives: economics, public health, human rights, civil liberties, and on and on. Of course, one needn't attend college to recognize the absurdity of this massive war against otherwise law-abiding Americans, but it is important to dispel the notion that marijuana reformers are foolish or naïve. We are not. And we have degrees to prove it.

By contrast, there are many ways in which a lack of education may contribute to a belief that it is wise to criminalize vast portions of the population and attempt to uproot America's #1 cash crop. But let's not forget that the architects of the war on marijuana users are, themselves, very cunning and deliberate in their actions. They've been effective in stigmatizing their opposition as hacks and weirdos, while fostering a false belief among politicians that reform is political suicide.

The future of marijuana policy reform lies in breaking free from the stereotypes imposed on us by our oppressors and revealing our movement as the compassionate, intellectual brain trust that it has blossomed into. This may be inevitable, but in the meantime, let's all try to use proper spelling and punctuation in our blog comments (like the smart, serious people this Gallup Poll reveals us to be).

You can urine test them. You can take away their financial aid for college. But you can't stop the kids from getting high. Some people will try anything, and I don't think arresting them is going to help:

Information Bulletin
New Drug – JENKEM

On 09/19/07 Cpl. Disarro received and email from a concerned parent regarding a new drug called “Jenkem”. The parent advised their child learned about this drug through various conversations with several students at Palmetto Ridge High.

Jenkem originated in Africa and other third world countries by fermenting raw sewage to create a gas which is inhaled to achieve a high. Jenkem is now a popular drug in American Schools. Jenkem is a homemade substance which consists of fecal matter and urine. The fecal matter and urine are placed in a bottle or jar and covered most commonly with a balloon. The container is then placed in a sunny area for several hours or days until fermented. The contents of the container will separate and release a gas, which is captured in the balloon. Inhaling the gas is said to have a euphoric high similar to ingesting cocaine but with strong hallucinations of times past. [Snopes]

This doesn't sound like a good idea. But what shall we do about it? You can't pop people for poop possession, or piss-test people for piss sniffing. Should we launch a massive public education campaign warning kids that fermenting their excrement and breathing in the resulting fumes will get them wasted? That could backfire.

So I don't know what the solution is. For starters, we should wait to see if this is a real problem or just another hysterical response to a couple gross, though isolated, incidents. If there really is a rising trend of Florida youths sniffing fermented feces, maybe it's just an overreaction to the Miami DEA Chief's recent claim that marijuana will kill you.