Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Users, police discuss effects, taboos and laws surrounding marijuana
By Grant Slater & Maria Prato-Gaines
Oklahoma Daily (U. Oklahoma)
04/20/2006

(U-WIRE) NORMAN, Okla. — A police code for drug busts? An elusive California highway that leads to a pot smoker's paradise? The birthday of LSD?

All these are myths, but one thing is certain.

Today is April 20, 4/20 to pot smokers around the nation. For them, it is a day to partake in a counter-culture pastime.

A population of potheads are prepping their bongs, loading their pipes, baking their brownies and rolling their doobies, all in an effort to lose themselves in the festivities.

Although many rumors have circulated around the origin of 4/20, according to a number of reports, the concept was born in the 1970s out of the daily ritual among a group of San Raphael, Calif., high school students. They designated 4:20 p.m. as the time to toke it up, which grew into a code for smoking weed and more recently a quasi-holiday.

Smoking pot "gets you a little buzzed, relaxes you, makes music sound cooler, enhances the taste of Twinkies," said one OU marijuana user, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It's something you wind down the day with. You take a couple hits, and you zone out for a while."

As for the negative connotations attached to the label "stoner," the student did not give weight to the idea.

"I don't think potheads are lazy," the student said. "I think people make themselves lazy, and some of those people just happen to smoke pot."

Norman is one minor battlefield in the United States' war on drugs, as law enforcement officials continue the constant struggle to stamp out narcotic activity.

In 2005, Norman police issued 244 municipal citations for possession of marijuana, said Gary Schmidt, crime analyst for the Norman Police Department.

From January 2006 to date, the department has issued 76 citations.

Norman police Lt. Kent Ritchie specializes in drug enforcement. His unit makes daily and weekly buys from bigger dealers.

"The eventual goal is always to get to the biggest source that you can get to," Ritchie said. "A guy that sells 10 pounds of marijuana is more valuable to us than a guy that sells an eighth ounce of marijuana, because he's affecting more people's lives."

Marijuana may be a past-time for some students, but one University of Oklahoma student said his drug entrepreneurship pays the bills.

"On average I sell about four to six sacks daily of either regular or hydro," the dealer said. "I usually buy 10 to 15 pounds of regular at a time."

He said his average clientele is financially struggling and in college. His role is to act as a middle-man between larger couriers and his customers.

"Most of the product we see in Oklahoma comes from Mexico," the dealer said. "I only have to go to OKC to get mine, but who knows how many hands it's been through."

This is one area the dealer and the police see eye-to-eye.

"The biggest supply we get is usually through Mexico," Ritchie said.

But he said the local unit starts with a small bust and works its way up the supply chain.

"We get involved when people get arrested and are looking for a way to get out of the business," Ritchie said. "We go out and use those individuals to make purchases from their dealers."

The Norman police bust six indoor marijuana growers each year on average, he said.

These growers cultivate anywhere from three to 300 plants at a time.

Connected to the dealers by a loose network of phone numbers and acquaintanceship, the average pot-smoker can fit a number of profiles, Ritchie said.

The anonymous student user said you may be able to smell marijuana, but you can't see who's doing it behind closed doors.

"A lot of people are doing it, but a lot of people aren't talking about it," the student said. "It's still a real taboo. The legality is what makes it taboo."

But as marijuana users can sometimes be described as out of touch, they often aren't hit by the reality of their situation until they're staring from behind bars.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Tupper said marijuana charges fall into two categories: felonies and misdemeanors.

Norman municipal court handles the misdemeanor charges, while the felony charges are sent up to the district level, Tupper said.

First-time possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor, while charges such as possession with an intent to distribute or possession within 1,000 feet of a school are classified as felonies, Tupper said.

The latter of these charges leaves little room for dealers and users to roam the city limits free from worry.

Norman has 58 parks, 21 public schools and 11 private schools, according to parks and schools representatives.

Considering the acreage of parks and schools in Norman and the minimum amount of area surrounding them at a 1000 foot radius; 26.7 percent of Norman falls either on the property of or within 1000 feet of a park or school.

This estimation is based on a total area extending from 48th Street east to west and from Rock Creek Road south to state Highway 9.

Many who are involved in the drug circuit are weary of these areas and take precautions to minimize the consequences.

"Spots to avoid are schools and churches because it doubles the consequences if you're caught. The best places to sell are busy public places like Wal-Mart," the dealer said.

The dealer said some laws need revision, complete dissolution of marijuana prohibition would be good for the public but bad for business.

"Personally, I would like to see it legalized just because I think adult citizens should have the right to smoke if they want to," the dealer said. "But the business side of me doesn't want it to be because the price would drop to almost nothing, and I would be out of job."

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