Smokin' pot and teachin' class

[BigBlueBalls]

Macleans Magazine (2006 October 30), page 50.

HIGHER LEARNING

A University of Toronto philosophy prof gets an underground pot-smoking room

By John Intini

Doug Hutchinson marches briskly through Trinity College's cavernous
basement hallway and stops in front of an unmarked door. "We're here,"
he says, key in hand. He pushes the door open, sits cross-legged on a
small red area rug, and lights a joint. "I haven't decorated yet, but
I do have an accent wall," says the University of Toronto philosophy
professor, pointing to the mustard-coloured wall in this
sparsely-furnished room. "When I was asked what colour I wanted in my
'office,' I said, 'it's not my office, it's my pot-smoking room.' The
painter asked, 'how do I get one?' "

Hutchinson, 51, won't reveal the ailment that gives him Health
Canada's permission to smoke marijuana for medical reasons (and, as of
last month, a school-sanctioned smoking room), but says he was
diagnosed with it in 1995 and that it's not a Type-1 condition (like
HIV). He does, however, need up to 10 joints a day for relief. "I
smoke a spliff at the break in my three-hour class to restore my
concentration and focus," he says. "I'm lower when I go back into
class, not higher. And I have way better short-term memory. If you
took one whiff of my spliff, you'd forget where your car is. It has a
very different effect on the virgin head and the seasoned head." (His
doctor backs Hutchinson's claim that the frequency of use makes him
immune to the power of the bud.)

Hutchinson didn't get the go-ahead from Health Canada until last
February, but has been smoking pot on campus for a few years -- in his
"official" second-floor office, but also while hiding out in tree
branches and in a nearby garbage dumpster. "If I couldn't use this
marijuana here I'd have to kill myself -- either literally or
professionally," he says, adding he's been "a pothead all my life --
even when I was a Rhodes Scholar."

His smoking only became an issue last December, after several students
complained to college officials that they could smell weed wafting
from Hutchinson's office. Administration cracked down, says
Hutchinson, because they had kicked a student out of residence for pot
earlier in the year. Margaret MacMillan, Trinity's provost, refuses to
discuss that alleged case. As for Hutchinson, she says the smoking
room -- formerly the North Piano Room -- was determined the best way
to accommodate his health need: "We hired a consultant to look at his
office but it couldn't be outfitted to use for smoking -- we're a
heritage building so you can't just knock a hole in the wall and put a
fan in."

The married father of two started using pot as a remedy in 1996. After
getting weed from a trusted source for several years, Hutchinson
discovered the benefits of medical-grade pot (including the "Snow
White" strain) at a Toronto compassion club in 2004. He's since become
something of a crusader on pot-related issues, protected he says by
the Charter of Rights, not to mention his tenured position at the
university. He still has a full teaching load, but since working on
Plato: Complete Works -- published in 1997 -- his research slate has
been "basically blank." Unfinished work -- including the editing of
Aristotle's ethics -- has been set aside for now. "I'm very open to
carry on my university research on marijuana," he says. "I'd rather do
this than find a new lost work of Aristotle. Why? Because it's
important to Canadians, right now."

Hutchinson says his struggle has been well-supported by students --
although he smokes pot in their presence, he never lights up with
them. ("I don't offer. They don't ask.") It has, however, strained
relations with his peers. There's no hostility, but it's quite telling
that most of the friends Hutchinson has made during 23 years at the
university are former students. A one-time student, however, recently
posted a critique of Hutchinson on the Internet, arguing that his pot
smoking explains his teaching style: "One of the questions on our term
test involved correlating Plato with an excerpt of lyrics from one of
the prof's favourite reggae songs."

Hutchinson laughs it off, crediting the writing of Roman philosopher
Seneca (the subject of one of his courses) with offering good
anger-management advice. Still, he's frustrated, and defends his
professionalism, and his teaching: "I feel massively angry that people
have negative views of me based only on what goes into me and not a
knowledge of what comes out of me."

[ImmoralLibertarian]

Ten joints a day…? Jesus.

I use to live with two other stoners, one of whom was a dealer…and I doubt we racked up that between us.

Well, maybe between us, but certainly not individually.

[BigBlueBalls]

At 10/29/06 06:13 AM, ImmoralLibertarian wrote: Ten joints a day…? Jesus.

Not to mention, the potency.

"If you took one whiff of my spliff, you'd forget where your car is."

I use to live with two other stoners, one of whom was a dealer…and I doubt we racked up that between us.

Well, maybe between us, but certainly not individually.

Yeah living with a dealer helps. I usually ration my pot, so it lasts me a long time.

[Neoptolemus]

At 10/29/06 06:13 AM, ImmoralLibertarian wrote: Ten joints a day…? Jesus.

I use to live with two other stoners, one of whom was a dealer…and I doubt we racked up that between us.

Well, maybe between us, but certainly not individually.

Really? Well, i remember when i went through half an ounce in one night with just me and one other person.. It's not difficult if you toke all the time.

Anyway, you shouldn't use joints to estimate how much a person smokes as it can veary a hell of alot.

[MortifiedPenguins]

Whats the argument here basically besides that this guy can smoke more then a Coed party at a college.

[Buffalow]

Are we suppost to take this seriously?

[BigBlueBalls]

At 10/29/06 03:08 PM, Bull-Hound wrote: Are we suppost to take this seriously?

I know something like this would seem unreal to someone from a country that sends you to jail for 9 months for selling bongs, but in Canada we really do now have professors who are allowed to smoke pot in university.

[Me-Patch]

Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

Great organization.

[JakeHero]

At 10/29/06 05:25 PM, BigBlueBalls wrote: I know something like this would seem unreal to someone from a country that sends you to jail for 9 months for selling bongs, but in Canada we really do now have professors who are allowed to smoke pot in university.

Yeah, we really don't care. Sounds like to me this guy's medical reason is just a front so he can get a buzz without a hitch.

[Nylo]

At 10/29/06 05:25 PM, BigBlueBalls wrote: I know something like this would seem unreal to someone from a country that sends you to jail for 9 months for selling bongs

Beats the hell out of having socialized medicine, where you've got to go to the vet under the name "Fido" just to get an MRI. Ah, the wonders of the Canadian healthcare system.

Isolated incident? Yes. Kinda like getting sentenced for 9 months for selling bongs. One bad example deserves another.

[TehChahlesh]

What does this prove? That this guy smokes more pot everyday than was smoked in total at woodstock?

Whoop-dee-fucking-doo

[BigBlueBalls]

At 10/29/06 09:34 PM, BanditByte wrote: Yeah, we really don't care. Sounds like to me this guy's medical reason is just a front so he can get a buzz without a hitch.

Um let me check that article again...
Hutchinson, 51, won't reveal the ailment that gives him Health Canada's permission to smoke marijuana for medical reasons

Sounds to me like you were on some kind of hallucinogen while reading that article or you're delusional because your assessment is completely out of your own imagination.

At 10/29/06 10:24 PM, Nylo wrote: Beats the hell out of having socialized medicine, where you've got to go to the vet under the name "Fido" just to get an MRI. Ah, the wonders of the Canadian healthcare system.

Isolated incident? Yes. Kinda like getting sentenced for 9 months for selling bongs. One bad example deserves another.

Do you have an article that proves this happened? Sounds like an urban myth perpetuated back when we had a shortage of MRI machines. Our life expectancy is higher, our infant mortality rate is lower and overall we're considered a healthier nation. Maybe the rich don't get supreme first class care, as they do in the U.S., but everyone gets the care they need.

Now I do know that Tommy Chong was arrested for selling bongs and sentenced to 9 months. This isn't an isolated incident, it's just more publicized since he's a celebrity. Thousands of Americans every year are given extraordinary charges related to marijuana. There are three people in Canada who are facing extradition for selling marijuana seeds to Americans. In the U.S. they're facing life in prison for something that in Canada they got nothing more than a fine. We still have a problem with prohibition in Canada, but slowly marijuana use is becoming more and more accepted. This article is a great example of how far we've progressed in the fight against antiquated marijuana laws.

[JakeHero]

At 10/30/06 07:21 PM, BigBlueBalls wrote: Um let me check that article again...
Hutchinson, 51, won't reveal the ailment that gives him Health Canada's permission to smoke marijuana for medical reasons

Sounds to me like you were on some kind of hallucinogen while reading that article or you're delusional because your assessment is completely out of your own imagination.

Well, from the fact he refuses to divulge what physical ailment he has kinda causes me to be skeptical he has a legitimate reason. I doubt he got HIV from drinking animal semen (though if he's a far lefty I wouldn't be surprised).

[Elfer]

At 10/30/06 08:27 PM, BanditByte wrote: Well, from the fact he refuses to divulge what physical ailment he has kinda causes me to be skeptical he has a legitimate reason.

I think the fact that health Canada has perscribed it to him and recommended that he be allowed to use it on campus for health reasons would make it appear to be legit.

Maybe he just doesn't want to divulge it for personal reasons, because he doesn't want his health info plastered up for everyone to see?

I don't know how it is in America, but health information in Canada is usually treated with a very high degree of privacy.

[JakeHero]

At 10/30/06 10:53 PM, Elfer wrote: Maybe he just doesn't want to divulge it for personal reasons, because he doesn't want his health info plastered up for everyone to see?

Oh yeah, because contracting a non-terminal illness is something deserving of scorn and his reputation would be on the line if people reading this article knew.

[Elfer]

At 10/31/06 06:09 PM, BanditByte wrote:

At 10/30/06 10:53 PM, Elfer wrote: Maybe he just doesn't want to divulge it for personal reasons, because he doesn't want his health info plastered up for everyone to see?

Oh yeah, because contracting a non-terminal illness is something deserving of scorn and his reputation would be on the line if people reading this article knew.

If people know what you have, they treat you differently based on how bad they think it is, as opposed to when they have no idea, in which case they treat you based on how you act.

As I say, in Canada, health information is a very private matter. Is it not good enough for you that the doctor who prescribed marijuana knew what he had? Why is it important for you, a non-professional to know what he has in order to make his prescription legitimate?

[BigBlueBalls]

Looks like the Pandora's Box has been opened. Another professor has been granted his own room. Heads up to BanditByte, this story does discuss the guy's medical condition. Apparently it's "a severe form of degenerative arthritis". It gives you an example of the kinds of conditions that warrent the legal use of marijuana.

Smoking pot on campus

Written by Frances Olimpo, Managing Editor
Wednesday, 01 November 2006

In the second known case in Canada, York University has provided accommodation for a criminology professor to smoke marijuana on campus grounds for medicinal purposes.

Brian MacLean, recently hired as an assistant professor in sociology in July, suffers from a severe form of degenerative arthritis that requires him to use the controversial substance once every four hours. As of Monday, Nov. 6, he will no longer be forced to find private areas to medicate himself out of fear he would be stigmatized by students or colleagues.

"Part of the problem was the delay of two months. I would be smoking, medicating, on campus and people would either see me or they would smell it on me," said MacLean, who also admits that he still feels uncomfortable being negatively associated with a drug that he uses for health reasons.

"It's not corrective medication; it's enabling, and I don't think people quite understand that. I think there's a lot of really negative and damaging stereotypes around the use of drugs, generally."

In an Oct. 28 report by The National Post, University of Toronto philosophy professor Doug Hutchinson was the first employee to request and be granted accommodation to smoke marijuana as a form of medical treatment. He now has privileged access to "a drab basement space with a single window and ventilation fan," located in downtown Toronto's Trinity College.

Hutchinson was also the first to gain media attention in his quest for an accommodation: there were reports of clashes with the head of Trinity College, Margaret MacMillan, who claimed that it was the novelty of the case that slowed down the university's process to confirm medical need as well as finding a space; there was also an upsetting editorial published by the University of Western Ontario's The Gazette, which argues for his right to smoke but also calls Hutchinson a "pothead."

"It looks on the outside to be successful," said Hutchinson, when Excalibur contacted him for a phone interview. "However, you will find that it's not.

MacLean said that, because of Hutchinson, his experience with York did not require an uphill battle and was seen as addressing a medical need from the beginning by all parties involved.

Louise Ripley, a representative from his union, the York University Faculty Association (YUFA), confirmed that their discussions with the university has led to a room that has already been set aside for MacLean.

"It took a little time in being able to find a room because York is now totally a smoke-free environment. So, part of the problem was being able to find a room where he can smoke anything that wouldn't disturb other people."

"This is a first time for us; it's the first time we looked at this procedure," said Alex Bilyk, director of media relations at York.

When MacLean was authorized by Health Canada to possess and produce marijuana, he said that he approached the head of his department to request accommodation. He had also requested, in the meantime, to refrain from going to campus and offered to hold classes off-campus for students.

After CBC News made an Oct. 19 report that exposed MacLean's illness and treatment, he felt that there was no longer any reason for him to hide, and came to campus only to smoke pot in the "peripheries" of university grounds. Two weeks later, after discussions between YUFA, the employer, labour relations and facilities, MacLean was notified by his union that a room was made available at his disposal.

MacLean, however, said that even when he is given accommodation, there are still myths that need to be dispelled when it comes to marijuana, or what he wants to distinguish as "marihuana," as it is called under Health Canada regulations and academic studies.

"It's a stigmatizing circumstance. And I would hope that my colleagues recognize it for what it is - a medical condition, however unusual.

"I don't want people assuming that because I have a medical condition that I can't perform my duties properly. It's completely wrong; it's completely unfair; it's completely contrary to the Human Rights Code of Ontario and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms."

MacLean, who has a sociology PhD, has been teaching for almost 25 years. He currently lists "recent developments in the decriminalization of cannabis for medical use" as one of his many areas of substantive research interests.

[krazygurl]

this is so hard to believe. it makes me jealous as hell. please don't mind any "off" comments i make because i just feel like making wise cracks about everything at the moment. i have much to say and i'll spill it all. first of all, this guy isn't very convincing. he should tell people what's wrong with him or else they won't believe him and they'll say he's making it up.

and i've never heard of any workplace making any "accomodations" for anyone. a workplace is a workplace and its managers don't usually care about making accomodations for people. the general policy is "accept the rules or don't bother working here"

organizations are too busy trying to maintain productivity and fulfill their own goals to worry about personal accomodations for their employees.

they have their own agendas and if employees can't adapt to their policies they won't be employed for very long. If they make an accomodation for him, they have to make accomodations for everyone or else people will be super pissed.

[Earfetish]

He should be thrown in jail, before he gets addicted to crack, quits his job, and starts sucking cock for rocks. While being schizophrenic. And demotivated.

lol not really, great country, inspiring article

[krazygurl]

i don't need government permission to smoke pot. i will keep smoking pot regardless of wether or not its legal. it's not a crime. i'm not a criminal. just because the government says its a crime doesn't mean it is.

i don't need permission to use a plant that has been around on this earth longer than the freekin government itself. and while i don't have the "privilege" that doug hutchinson was granted, i will continue to smoke pot.

it's a sad joke that people have to get "authorization" to use this stuff. it's a joke. marijuana should be legal. if it gets legalized, that'll be great. but if it doesn't, i'll keep using it anyway, i'll just have to be careful to avoid encounters with cops.

[LadyGrace]

At 1/6/08 08:29 PM, krazygurl wrote: i don't need permission to use a plant that has been around on this earth longer than the freekin government itself. and while i don't have the "privilege" that doug hutchinson was granted, i will continue to smoke pot.

You don't need permission to put oleander in someone's drink. But it will still poison the person. Just because something is natural doesn't make it "healthy".

As for the whole pot thing. I feel that as a professor, you're supposed to teach the subject you've been tenured to teach. Regardless of personal or political views, you teach the subject you're given without putting your own opinion on things. I think he's violating the authoritative position of a professor. It seems to me his class is less about teaching and more about getting high. If my son or daughter were being taught in a class like that, I'd feel I were wasting my money. You go to college to get an education. You can smoke pot on your own time.

[Earfetish]

At 1/6/08 08:29 PM, krazygurl wrote: i don't need government permission to smoke pot. i will keep smoking pot regardless of wether or not its legal. it's not a crime. i'm not a criminal. just because the government says its a crime doesn't mean it is.

As a fellow pot smoker, I do kinda think that we're supporting nefarious characters. Whenever I buy weed that has been sprayed with pesticide or is low-quality, I've just given money to a scumbag. Possibly a whole chain of them. Since it's illegal, your money isn't going to a nice overground chain of command and produce, but a more sinister underground one. You're not doing anything wrong at all if you know the original source, or if you're getting it from Amsterdam or Canada or wherever.

Of course, that's all the more reason to make it legal. It does kinda shock me, how easy it is to get, and how much I've smoked it, and how much society could handle it being legal, yet the Government still insists upon giving the criminal underground this free goldmine.

[Earfetish]

At 1/6/08 08:36 PM, LadyGrace wrote: If my son or daughter were being taught in a class like that, I'd feel I were wasting my money. You go to college to get an education. You can smoke pot on your own time.

They're not teaching them to smoke pot. That's kinda unfair. It'll only be teenagers who already smoke pot who think it's cool their professor does, and that's so beyond the point: he's smoking pot because he is sick, and if he's still a fine Sociology teacher (lol Sociology is all about being stoned) then it's completely unfair for you to say he shouldn't be teaching because of the medicine he's using.

[Earfetish]

fuck rules against double posting and triple posting

I also have to comment on how the first guy is a philosophy professor.

Philosophy, and Sociology.

That's amazing.

[metalhead676]

At 10/29/06 06:13 AM, ImmoralLibertarian wrote: Ten joints a day...? Jesus.

I use to live with two other stoners, one of whom was a dealer...and I doubt we racked up that between us.

Well, maybe between us, but certainly not individually.

i've done it once or twice.

that is a lot daily though, after a while it would take a significant amount more to get him stoned.

[metalhead676]

At 1/6/08 06:45 PM, krazygurl wrote: this is so hard to believe. it makes me jealous as hell. please don't mind any "off" comments i make because i just feel like making wise cracks about everything at the moment. i have much to say and i'll spill it all. first of all, this guy isn't very convincing. he should tell people what's wrong with him or else they won't believe him and they'll say he's making it up.

Whether or not people beleive him is not an issue, so why should he divulge his condition of health to everyone? the government lets him smoke it so it won't make a difference either way.

and i've never heard of any workplace making any "accomodations" for anyone. a workplace is a workplace and its managers don't usually care about making accomodations for people. the general policy is "accept the rules or don't bother working here"

Why get rid of a perfectly good art teacher or criminology professor if you don't have to? Oh yeah there's unions here too.

organizations are too busy trying to maintain productivity and fulfill their own goals to worry about personal accomodations for their employees.

It's a medical issue and it interferes with his work and makes him LESS productive than if he got some tiny littlle room to take his medicine in?

they have their own agendas and if employees can't adapt to their policies they won't be employed for very long. If they make an accomodation for him, they have to make accomodations for everyone or else people will be super pissed.

So? it doesn't interfere with their productivity, but it's just a painkiller and appetite stimulant of sorts, nevermind other benificial factors.

[Elfer]

At 1/6/08 06:45 PM, krazygurl wrote: organizations are too busy trying to maintain productivity and fulfill their own goals to worry about personal accomodations for their employees.

If you're a professional or an academic one day, you'll understand. When you get out of the field of unskilled labour, employees also have leverage against the employers.

[Earfetish]

At 1/6/08 10:21 PM, Elfer wrote: If you're a professional or an academic one day, you'll understand. When you get out of the field of unskilled labour, employees also have leverage against the employers.

Correct. The fact that this guy's weed is medicinal gives him a lot of leverage against getting fired because of it, though.

[hongkongexpress]

I like how professor Hibert offered homer the Skull or Wizard bong. I hope Pot gains more acceptance. And I become afficted with some sort of ailment that needs Pot to treat the symptoms. But I kinda like not having MS and moving my hands and legs about. I had a computer teacher... I wonder if he's still alive?!?1 possibly not! But he drove a yellow Geo, and, had shakey hands like Parkinsons. It took him great difficulty to put in the 3 1/2 inch floppies into the jackets.

Ouch! If anyone he would definatly qualify for Weed treatments...