Westside High School 8701 Pacific Street Omaha, NE 68124
rad breath, pale? r. Pat Venditte is to marijuana what Anita Bryant is to gay liberation. state senator, and health teacher at Westside, is the major e in the drive for illegalization of marijuana in Nebraska.
~nditte ,
1e main thrust of this drive is his resolution, Legislative Bill 26, a :e of legislation that provides more stringent marijuana laws. "The n reason I introduced this bill was because of long-term ill effects of ijuana. We know for sure that marijuana is bad . There is no scientific •ute; it is a proven fact. "
mmit suicide
1other basis for Venditte's Josal was his observations of ;tside students who use ijuana. There was a definite erence between students 1re they started smoking ijuana and after they smoked ijuana for some time. After •king marijuana they didn't n to care about anything more, they became pale ;ing, and their breath usually 1k. I'll bet I can tell any lent at Westside who smokes ijuana," he said .
Marijuana protagonist 'pushes' pot law reform by Jon Staenberg Lights, cameras, and little action filled the KMTV studios when Dr. Hardin B. Jones, of the University of California at Berkeley , answered questions about marijuana in a call- in question and answer television show with host Joni Baillon . Mr. Pat Venditte, a Westside teacher and state senator, brought Jones to Nebraska to present evidence in favor of his legislative resolution Legislative Bill 26. The resolution calls for stricter controls on marijuana. Venditte said he introduced the bill primarily "from my observation of students I have seen here at Westside." Venditte went on to explain that he brought Jones here because " Nebraska wants to know the truth and that is why I brought a renowned professional expert . Dr. Jones' testing has provided insights into the issue, " explained Venditte. Jones allowed his insights to be aired to the public at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday , Sept . 14, on Channe13, on " Conversations on Marijuana" with Joni Baillon .
1lso two students who I had wn committed suicide after tg under the influence of ijuana for a long time. I saw n a couple of years after I had n in class, when they were king a lot of marijuana. I 1't even recognize them, for · had long hair and beards. next thing I knew, they had tmitted suicide."
Questions concerning research
·ee groups mator Venditte believes that e are three groups of people also share his views about ijuana : parents , teachers judges. "There are three Jps of people" said Senator 1ditte, " who are never ttioned as those opposed to r ijuana : moms , dads, hers and law enforcers. " ~ty-five percent of these pie are against marijuana."
September 23, 1977, Vol. 22, No.2
Good health. Mr. Pat Venditte, state senator and health teacher at Westside, is involved in legislative action that he hopes will cut down on marijuana use.
1other method that Venditte advocates besides LB 26 for his fight nst marijuana, is education , "Have you ever once heard in school Jt the ill effects of marijuana in education? We need better programs courses stressing these things."
:riminallzation measures though Anita Bryant was successful in her campaign , Senator ditte does not believe his campaign will be successful. "Even though 10w everybody in the legislature, and they should vote, John :amp, head of the forces to decriminalize marijuana, is a powerful . I have seen this happen before."
He summed up his research by saying , "Well, I've studied 3000 marijuana users in various locations of the world. I am known as a person that can have a comprehensive total analysis of any segment of the science. I have read and reanalyzed all the literature out on the effects of marijuana. Probably no one has done as much analytical work. So I have done a lot of research. "
Brain damage studies Jones' major argument against marijuana was that it causes severe brain damage. At this time, brain damage studies have not been done on humans, but primarily on monkeys. He said only marijuana users end up on heroine and as LSD and cocaine addicts . By the end of the show only about ten people in the audience were left . If you listened for the first half hour, you had heard his major points anyway (although he didn't plug his book until the second half hour.) This much was repeated and seemed to drag on . Perhaps that was what prompted a girl in the audience to say, "Maybe they didn't pick such a good night to pre-empt the 'Johnny Carson Show."'
The audience consisting of about 60 area high school and college students, filed in at 10 p.m. and waited with anticipation until1 0:25p.m . when the crew walked in. First the telephone oeprator, then the camermen, next the host, and the star of the show walked in together. Baillon explained the procedure of the show to the audience while Jones, with a plastic smile, looked on . The show began with an Arbor Heights Junior High School student asking Jones to comment on an allegation in the "Omaha World-Herald," that his interpretations of some medical studies were "at best inaccurate and at worst misleading." Jones calmly answered by saying, " I don't consider myself inadequate at all." Many of the questions asked dealt with what his research found . In answering these questions the only polite comment about the drug was that "it leaves a feeling of well being ." He also added that 'There are no known medical uses for marijuana."
Credibility questions In relating to the research he does, he talked about how people changed after smoking it for awhile. He said , "most people that use marijuana become relatively quiet. They want to treat people nice, but they lack judgment. " If you get marijuana users riled up, they become terribly rude. I have frequently been attacked by marijuana users." When Jones wasn 't plugging his book and waving it in front of the television camera, he was answering questions about his credibility .
Next question please. Dr. Hardin B. Jones, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, answered questions on the uses and abuses of marijuana for90 minutes on a television show hosted by Joni Baillon that pre-empted the ''Tonight Show" on Wednesday, Sept. 14.
llation or decriminalization
'pponents "ie lor Senate "otes uana- Decriminalization or escalation of This controversy is being debated in ·gislatures across the country. There are oposals concerning this issue in the ka State Legislature. ~s?
such proposal, Legislative Resolution 26, ted by Senator Pat Venditte calls for a ::>oking into the possibility of: ng unlawful the sale or possession of tna; lating it and other possibly harmful 1ces; aminating false information about tna.
:ed penalty ::>ther proposal , Legislative Bill 187, was by Senator John DeCamp. The bill ts reducing the penalty for possession of ~uantities for personal use, to a civil
citation . The present law states that any person knowingly or intentionally possession one pound or less is subject to a maximum of seven days imprisonment and/ or a $500 fine. Persons possessing more than one pound are guilty of a class four felony which is punishable by a maximum of five years imprisonment and/or a $10,000 fine .
Differing views Ms. Barbara Gaither, of the American Civil Liberties Union, was one of four people testifying against Venditte's resolution . "The second and third point are completely vague and are unconstitutional .. . It's a violation of the first amendment and due process." Gaither explained that the third point dealing with dissemination of false information was indefinite. She stated that there are many different views on the marijuana questions and as, of yet, no one can say that another's opinion is false.
Venditte requested a senate hearing on the proposals and brought in the testimony of Dr. Hardin B. Jones, a physiologist, biophysicist, and epidemiologist at the University of California
She also claimed that Jones did not say "This is my opinion, " but " insinuated, if not said outright" that he was correct and other experts were inaccurate.
"It's a violation of the first amendment and due process." - Barbara Gaither at Berkeley . Jones stated that he has studied 3,000 marijuana users over a 12-year period . Jones stated he had conclusive evidence that marijuana caused brain damage and birth defects. Sighting specifically blue babies and babies born without hip joints. Gaither criticized Jones' testimony for several reasons . "He talked in technical medical terms that made it nearly impossible for the judiciary committee or any lay person to question him."
Gaither believes that DeCamp's bill calling for a lesser penalty is "a step in the right direction." She stated the hope that if DeCamp's resolution is passed, they would expunge past marijuana records . Expunging deals with petitioning the court to have a record destroyed . Youth with records from possession of small quantities " .. . should not have to go through life with a criminal record ."