WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO ISSUE 3 NOT PASSING?
Emily Bullock, Surgical Technology Major
“I was unhappy about that. I wanted it to pass. I think marijuana should be legalized for medical and recreational use, so I was pretty disappointed that it didn’t pass. [Marijuana] does have its downfalls, obviously. It’s not good to smoke anything, chemicals aren’t really good for you no matter what, but I think it has a lot more benefits than [bad], especially medical-wise. They should at least legalize it for that because it does help slow the progression of diseases, it does help as a painkiller that’s not addictive. . . I do still think it should be used recreationally as long as it’s safe. They’re not going to give it to kids, they’re not letting you do it out in public. It’s just like alcohol, it’s your own thing. I just hope they’re going to come up with something better on the next ballot.”
Angela Leon, Communication Major
“To be honest, I wasn’t for it, so I’m okay with it. No one in my family has ever smoked so I’ve never seen the need for it. I understand that medical marijuana use was important, but Issue 3 seemed kind of messed up because of the whole monopoly factor about it. So it seemed more bad than good to have it passed for the way they wrote it. I’m thinking next year they’ll probably amend that and then more people will vote for it. [I would vote for it] if it was just medical. I’d be all for it. The recreational use—it’s not that it bothers me, I just don’t feel like there’s a need for it. There are people who are really upset about it, there are people who don’t really mind, the ones that are hoping for better things for next year. I was just kind of like ‘Oh, alright.’ I didn’t have a strong stance on it.”
Brad Jess, Business Management Major
“I feel bad because that’s taking all the cancer treatment away. I’ve lost people who have had cancer and that helped them with it, but since it didn’t pass, it’s like people are being selfish toward them. I voted for it just because of the cancer reason, but that’s my belief on it. [Recreational use] is their choice. I don’t personally smoke, so I really don’t worry about the recreational, I just worry about the medical use. I didn’t really wait on the results, but when I heard it didn’t pass, I thought it was pretty selfish to the people who just want to use it for just smoking because they want to smoke, not for the medical use. Those people kind of make me mad. I was more toward the angry side of it.”
Steven Juvera, Radiology Major
“I’ve talked to a lot of people on campus about it. Most people have the same kind of thoughts like, there’s a lot of legitimate medical uses for marijuana. Recreational legalization has worked in other states, but I think a lot of people are afraid it will find its way into our younger people in schools. I think that’s probably the biggest fear. I think that eventually it will be legalized, which I think I am actually okay with, from experience. I have used it for a long time, earlier in my life. I can tell you personally I never felt withdraw from stopping using it, I’ve never had any ill side effects from using it, and even after 20 years after the fact. . . If you asked me—everybody has vices and crutches—alcohol, tobacco, marijuana. . . I would say that marijuana is the safest out of all three. . . I’m not surprised it didn’t pass and I’m okay with it not passing. When the time is right, I think when they get the situation corrected, then eventually we’ll have it.”
Photos and Story done by Maggie Stacey