- NORML’s call out meeting will be held Tuesday in Whitinger room 144 at 7 p.m.
- NORML is a non-profit, public interest lobby that works for the reform of marijuana laws. It supports full decriminalization of marijuana private possession and use for adults. It has regional chapters and college chapters.
- The General Social Survey, a bi-yearly survey to gauge public opinion, looks at public support for marijuana laws. In 2014, for the first time, support for marijuana legalization outweighed opposition. The survey said 52 percent of Americans favor legalization of marijuana.
A student from Purdue University is trying to legalize marijuana, and he’s starting organizations on other Indiana campuses including Ball State.
Chris Thompson, a junior at Purdue, is jump-starting the Ball State chapter of NORML--National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws. He’s also working on starting chapters at Indiana University and Indiana University-Purdue University.
Thompson was kicked out of his residence hall at Purdue during his sophomore year for smoking a gram of marijuana with a pipe in his car on campus.
“There wasn’t even any question about it,” he said. “It sucked. But at the same time, it’s what led me to start Purdue NORML. That was the catalyst.”
Purdue’s chapter of NORML started a petition to change Purdue’s zero-tolerance policy towards marijuana in its residence halls. In three days, Thompson said, a petition was signed by more than 1,000 students.
Thompson said no formal policy change was enacted, but he knows of 30 students who were since caught with marijuana in the dorms and not kicked out.
He hopes Ball State’s chapter could do similar work. Ball State’s Housing and Residence Life policy dictates that any drug violations terminate the housing contract.
In July 2014, as part of a reform of Indiana’s sentencing laws, possession of marijuana went from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class B misdemeanor, changing the maximum penalty from one year of imprisonment and $5,000 fine to 180 days imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.
Indiana State Sen. Karen Tallian (D-Ogden Dunes) introduced a bill during the 2015 Indiana legislative session to legalize marijuana that was referred to a committee on Health and Provider Services. She has introduced other bills in the past, but all died without a hearing.
Four states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana and 23 states have legalized medical marijuana.
Ball State sophomore pre-business major Drew Beal said that with the national conversation, now is an opportune time to start a club like this at Ball State.
“We’re so close to legalization all across the U.S. when you think about how long it’s been illegal,” Beal said. “There has been a lot of progress. Now we actually have a chance to pass marijuana laws in states like Indiana especially with the laws being presented at the federal government.”
He doesn’t see it as a controversial issue and thinks most young adults will agree with their stance.
Ball State Philosophy Instructor Adam Bowen is the faculty advisor for the group. He said NORML may appeal to students studying law, politics and medicine.
“As academics, faculty members have a duty to encourage students to be politically active,” Bowen said. “That doesn’t include me encouraging them to break laws.”
NORML functions as a political organization that has worked for statewide changes across the country, and Bowen said BSU NORML can use Muncie’s proximity to Indianapolis to meet with state legislators and bolster support for bills like Tallian’s.
At the call-out meeting this week, Thompson hopes to get support for BSU NORML’s executive board.
“We’re the voice for legalization on campus,” Thompson said. “We’re the place where students can go to learn more and we’re the resource that can talk to students and learn the truth about cannabis and dispel the lies.”
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