SSDP in the news, eh?

So, long story short: 15-year-old Kieran King of Wawota, Saskatchewan got in trouble for researching the harms of marijuana and sharing his findings that it is less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco. The principal threatened to call the police if he talked about marijuana again. In response, he organized a walk-out protest for free speech, and the principal retaliated by suspending anyone who participated in the protest - namely, King and his brother. Tara Lyons, chair of the Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy, gives the school a piece of her sensible mind:

"Mr. King was threatened with police action for voicing an opinion that is well established in fact and science: that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco," Lyons said.

"When he staged a walkout to defend his right to freedom of speech he was suspended, causing him to miss his final exams. Canadians ought to be outraged at the treatment this student has received for voicing an opinion."

The full article can be read here.

King, by the way, does not happen to be a marijuana user. I spoke to a girl around his age today, and she knocked my socks off by telling me she did a 23-page research paper on why marijuana should be legalized. Her peers falsely assumed that she had become a marijuana user simply because she'd decided to use her awesome brainpowers to take a sensible stance on the subject of legalization. Teachers and administrators should take pride in such self-motivated students, and people in general should realize that support isn't the same thing as participation or identity (not every gay rights activist is LGBT, not every pro-choice advocate has had an abortion or is even sexually active, not every feminist is female, and not every environmentalist is a polar bear -duh).