UVM is the jewel in the crown of this vanguard state. Vermont pioneered civil unions and non-partisan politicians. UVM should continue the tradition. I say make pot legal on campus while phasing out alcohol at the same time. Alcohol, while fun to some, has a devastating effect on campuses. Each year on American campuses alcohol is responsible for the death of 1,700 students, 696,000 assaults and 97,000 rapes (that are reported). Mary Jane has been proven less likely than alcohol to produce aggression and actually has a tranquilizing effect on monkeys during clinical trials. I know what you are thinking, and there is not a single scientific study that can prove that the use of pot leads to harder illegal drugs. It has been used medicinally for thousands of years to help with a myriad of symptoms and can even have some positive effects on the mind. In college, substance use is going to happen whether we like it or not. Why then do we outlaw a substance that people cannot overdose on, and has quantifiably smaller chance of making you commit violence then alcohol? Alcohol poisons our community and has led to at least one horrific memory for every single reader of this article. I am not saying that pot is harmless, nor am I suggesting that everyone start the habit. My point in this article is that most of the community considers alcohol part of the ritual of college, yet that same logic seems similar to allowing ritual combat for boys to become “men”. We turn a blind eye toward violence and enablers of violence and it needs to stop. Someone doesn’t even have to drink alcohol to feel its effects (ask the hundreds of thousands who have lost friends and family to drunk driving). We should make wiser choices in what is acceptable rebellion or “experimentation” in college. If we want to live as safe students in a community, we must make hard decisions and wake up to the effect of our alcohol tolerance.