Is marijuana addictive? One student organization is questioning the accuracy of this and many other myths about the notorious plant.
The UH chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy will be holding an event to discuss the facts and fiction behind marijuana use.
"We decided to do (an event) for marijuana because it is one of the most well-known and most-used drugs," said Michael Blunk, president of UHSSDP. "I think that’s what people would be interested to know about."
The group was started in spring of 2008 to combat ambiguous information about drug usage and policies.
The event will be held at 4 p.m. today at the University Center Mediterranean Room and will feature speakers including Suzanne Will, the director of Drug Policy Forum of Texas and Dean Becker of the Drug Truth Network on 90.1 KPFT.
Topics include the effects of marijuana on mental health, the use of medical marijuana and marijuana addiction. Free food and drinks will be provided.
"I would encourage every student to attend. There is a lot of misinformation (about marijuana) out there, some from the government and by the media. It can be a little misleading," Blunk said. "Not only is there confusing information, the marijuana plant is also hard to identify."
UHSSDP members held a game on Monday of Pot or Not to test how many people could properly identify a marijuana plant. The group placed pictures of similarly shaped plant leaves intermixed with pictures of marijuana, among them the Japanese maple, Texas star hibiscus and parsley.
"Out of the hundreds of people that played, only a couple managed to correctly identify the marijuana plant," Blunk said. "(I hope) people will leave with more information than they began with. If they hear something on the news, they would be able to say if it’s true or false."
