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To the editor:
    As president of the Utah State University Students for Sensible Drug Policy, I am often asked, “What is a ‘sensible’ drug policy?” My most common response is always something like this: A longtime friend of mine was just sentenced to a year in jail for a marijuana possession charge. Does that sound sensible to you? I forgot to mention that he only received a possession charge because he truthfully told a cop that he had ingested marijuana two weeks prior. There were never even any drugs or paraphernalia found.
    This was a student of Utah State who had finals this week and is now spending his test time in jail, and failing his exams. Can this possibly seem sensible to anyone? Because he used sometime in December (which cannot be proven) he is now in jail for the next year. The next year for this student would have been well spent getting an education for the future. He will instead be receiving an education in how to not get caught doing what everyone else is in there for.
    I hope that everyone can seriously think critically about what the system of jailing first-time drug users is supposed to accomplish, and then ask yourself if it is working at all and if it is sensible. The more you look at prohibition, the more questions you will start to ask. It has never worked and never will. Drugs have been used in every culture since the beginning of history. You can take a drug user off the street, but another one will just replace it. Not everyone thinks the same, and where there is a demand there will always be a supply. Not the other way around.

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Dr. Siekadellyk said:
Are they even allowed to do that?

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