If you watched the most recent republican presidential debates, you might have noticed a humorous exchange between Sen. Rand Paul and Jeb Bush. After Sen. Paul insinuated to marijuana use by one republican presidential candidate on stage, Jeb Bush was forced to admit he previously smoked marijuana.
“So forty years ago I smoked marijuana, and I admit it,” Bush said. “I’m sure other people might of done it and may not want to say it in front of 25 million people, my mom’s not happy that I just did.” Surprisingly, the reaction by the crowd was laughter and a strong applause. Later that night, a tweet from Bush read, “Sorry Mom” which received over 30,000 retweets.
Bush’s confession to marijuana use and the crowd’s reaction to his confession forced me into a troubling question. Would Jeb Bush still be a legitimate presidential candidate if he were to have been convicted for possession of marijuana as a student?
A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 68 percent of people born between 1981 and 1997 favor marijuana legalization, followed by 50 percent of people born between 1946 and 1964- Jeb Bush’s generation. Overall, 53 percent of Americans believe that marijuana use should be legal. That’s a slim majority, but nonetheless shows – along with marijuana legalization in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Washington DC and Alaska — that the national perception of marijuana has drastically shifted toward legalization.
Nonetheless, regardless of popular opinion, a recent 2014 report by the FBI on national arrest data shows that the federal government has not had a change of heart when it comes to marijuana. According to the FBI, 620,000 people were arrested for simple marijuana possession in 2014. That is 1,700 people per day and over one person arrested for marijuana possession per minute.
At KSU, through data provided by the KSU police department, from October 2014 to September 2015, 134 people were arrested for drug related offenses. Out of those 134 arrest, 119 of them were related to marijuana offenses; 109 arrest for the simple possession of marijuana and 10 arrest for sale and distribution. This means that almost 90 percent of drug arrest on KSU campus are related to marijuana.
According to Georgia law, if Jeb Bush would have been one of those 119 arrested at KSU for possession of a mere two ounces of marijuana in 2014, he would be facing felony charges with a mandatory minimum sentence of one year and a maximum of 10 years. Most likely this would have ended any presidential ambitions. For students, a marijuana arrest could jeopardize any federal and state financial aid, and make it extremely difficult to find future employment because of a felon status.
Furthermore, the ACLU projects that the average cost of a marijuana arrest is $750 not including the cost of detainment. At 119 arrest, that means just to arrest people for marijuana offenses KSU spent almost $90,000.
Despite the fact that Georgia has already made advances in understanding the medical value of marijuana, the state has failed to realize the economic and most importantly, the human cost of marijuana policy.
Simply put, the harsh marijuana laws enforced by the federal government and state of Georgia are unnecessary and dishonest. As a student, I and current marijuana smokers are entitled to the same standard as presidential candidate Jeb Bush, in which the only consequence anyone should face for smoking marijuana is an apology to our mothers.
