Many topics have dominated the headlines this semester, from the University of Wisconsin's personnel troubles to stem cells. One of the more salient issues thus far has also been marijuana: with legalization advocates holding their annual Harvest Fest in Madison earlier this week and lawmakers introducing a bill to the state legislature aiming to legalize medicinal marijuana, stoners and the ill alike appear to have high hopes for the future of the plant.

However, such optimism must be checked at the door when we take into account a group of kind activists congregating in Library Mall is extremely unlikely to change decades of abrasive drug laws, and the legislation allowing medicinal marijuana has about as much chance of passing the GOP-heavy legislature as a measure allowing homosexuals to marry.

While police refrained from arresting blatant tokers during Harvest Fest, the rest of the nation fails to embrace Madison's progressive views and continues to perpetuate rash generalizations and stereotypes when it comes to the effects of marijuana use.

The government's anti-drug campaign of the last 20 years or so has consistently stretched the truth to a degree that would certainly break even the most determined Stretch Armstrong doll.

One of the many "facts" the government pounded into our generation's minds through the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program when we were in elementary school was that marijuana is a gateway drug. Better be careful, they said, because once you put your lips to a pipe and inhale, SMACK! You're addicted to heroin.

Unfortunately, things are not always as cut and dry as our government would like us to believe. Taking into account that we attend a university The Princeton Review ranked No. 7 in terms of "reefer madness," it seems justified to assume a fair amount of students have at one point or another indulged. But we have yet to be overrun by a heroin epidemic, nor has crack reared its ugly head on campus.

When individuals recognize marijuana is not simply a stepping stone to harder drugs, they also come to the realization that their government has been less than truthful with them. And once they realize marijuana is not a tool of Lucifer himself, they could possibly question if the government was telling the truth about cocaine. As long as the government lies on one front of the war on drugs, students have no reason to believe they are being truthful on another.

A personal favorite anti-drug ad came during the Superbowl following the Sept. 11 attacks. The commercial (that cost the government more than $3 million) said flat out that if you purchase marijuana you're supporting terrorists. Coming on the heels of the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., this message appeared exceptionally poignant to some. However, this is quite possibly the most egregious case of using Sept. 11 for political gain. The White House capitalized on the post-Sept. 11 mindset and built an argument based on flimsy evidence that has since been widely discredited.

The contention that Osama bin Laden grew the marijuana students at the UW use is absurd. Most of the suspected "dealers" on campus sport dreadlocks coupled with a tie-dyed Grateful Dead t-shirt and a quasi-confused smile, not a military jacket and an AK-47.

While the government's message is full of half-truths and exaggerations, they are nonetheless effective. There was no public outcry for a ruthless anti-drug policy among Americans prior to the 1980s. However, that all changed once Nancy Reagan became the first lady, although it took a few years.

Through her genius "Just say no!" campaign, Mrs. Reagan and her followers created a crisis that simply did not exist. In 1985, The New York Times asked Americans "What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?" The overwhelming pick was nuclear war, while less than one percent said the most important problem facing the country was drugs. However, after being bombarded with advertisement after advertisement, that number skyrocketed to an amazing 54 percent by 1989. Are we to believe that drug use increased 5,400 percent over the course of four years, or could this possibly be another instance of the government telling the public what to think?

These numbers could possibly be explained by claiming the arrival of crack on American streets was to blame for the feelings, not marijuana. However, during a similar period, feelings toward marijuana steadily became less and less tolerant, as the same poll found 57 percent thought possession of a small amount of marijuana should be treated as a criminal offense, up from 41 percent in 1977.

The government has a duty to be truthful to every citizen. Unfortunately, when it comes to marijuana our government consistently engages in a misinformation campaign. There are almost undoubtedly citizens across the country that view marijuana as an evil substance with extraordinary power that can turn Wally Cleaver into a drug crazed maniac overnight, and until the government wises up and stops lying to its citizens such misconceptions are bound to continue.

Robert S. Hunger ([email protected]) is the editorial page content editor and is majoring in political science and journalism.