Jake Richardson/ Criterion Local dispensary Nature’s Medicine provides a wide variety of medical marijuana to their clients. Their main demographic is an older generation, but they do have a few patients in their 20s and 30s.

Katie Schultz

News Editor
Every student at Mesa State College has his or her own daily routine to make it through the day. They go to class, work part-time jobs, and just hang out with their friends. Yet out of the thousands of typical students that go to MSC, there are some that have one aspect that is just another part of their life. They have a medical marijuana registry card which allows them to legally smoke “pot.”
The administration of MSC has begun creating their medical marijuana policies, and even student run organizations, like Associated Student Government, have decided to do the same. According to Associated Student Government Vice President Nick Lopez, ASG backs the policies that the administration have set forth in response to medical marijuana and believe every student should follow the regulations.
Even with the regulations being set into motion, students have their own opinions on medical marijuana. In a survey presented to 50 MSC students at random by the Criterion, 84 percent are for the use of medical marijuana, while 78 percent believe that marijuana will eventually become completely legal. 
Josh Large, a junior acting/directing major, is for the use of medical marijuana. “The fact that alcohol is legal and pot is not is ridiculous to me.” According to him, alcohol is more physically damaging than marijuana and no one has ever died from smoking too much “pot.” 
Other students like Cash Kiser, a senior marketing major who is for the use of medical marijuana, disagree with the 78 percent who believe marijuana will become legal. “I hope it doesn’t (become completely legal), but maybe it will lose its allure if it is legalized,” he said. 
In the survey, 38 percent of students said that they do know a student with a registry card.
With all the controversy surrounding medical marijuana, many believe that it has become too easy to get a registry card especially for individuals in their 20s. Some even believe that its just a legal way for the students to get stoned.
However, there are students with their registry cards that are breaking the stereotype of what it means to smoke marijuana.
Katie Summers, a senior psychology major, is a typical college student. She runs four miles a day, is taking 29 credit hours, maintains a 3.4 GPA with the hopes of going to law school, and she has her registry card. 
“Yeah, I do smoke pot. I’m not going to lie,” Summers said. “But I’m motivated and ambitious. It’s not like I’m couch locked.”
Summers broke her back while working as a life guard when she slipped on the cement. She now has frequent pain, but found other prescription drugs to be too de-habilitating.
“(Marijuana) works better for me. I can still function without feeling like a zombie,” she said.
From her perspective, marijuana doesn’t seem like the other drugs it’s classified with, like cocaine or meth. Instead, the bad reputation it has is based on the stereotypes that have been passed down from generation to generation.  
“The biggest misconception is that people who smoke pot are lazy,” she said. “I’m sure there are people who are worthless out there, but there are others who stay with their life.”
Even though Summers has her registry card, she does think a lot of the regulations regarding medical marijuana are still creating a gray area that needs to become a little more black and white. She also understands why the administration wants to keep the campus marijuana free, but doesn’t think students who have their registry cards should be penalized if they have marijuana on them. The same can be said for student athletes. Even though she isn’t one, the fact that she smokes marijuana doesn’t affect her performance. 
However, she realizes that this is still new territory for everyone.

“The government needs to finalize regulation,” she said. “Right now they are regulating as it happens, which keeps it a big gray area.”

However, even with the hopes of a generation breaking the norms, Summers worries about the challenges that face her because of the negative connotation associated with medical marijuana. 

“I don’t want the fact that I smoke to make (my professors) think any different of me,” she said. “I don’t want them to have a 180 opinion on who I am.”

It’s this negative association with marijuana that keeps registry card holders in the shadows. “It’s not something you go around talking about, because you don’t know how other people around you feel about it,” she said. “It’s scary. That’s why I have my card so that (smoking marijuana) doesn’t ruin everything.”

In the end marijuana is only one of the many facets of Summers’ life, but in her eyes it doesn’t define her.

“If I could tell everyone one thing it would be if you are unsure do your own research on it to make a well informed opinion,” she said. “When you’ve worked so hard to create an identity, you don’t want it to get shut down cause someone doesn’t understand.”