Ballsy. That’s one way to describe it.

Rest assured, there are other adjectives that apply — depending on who you ask.

I’m speaking, of course, of an 17-year-old Peninsula High School student who made headlines this week for lighting up a joint at school, in the middle of a packed assembly hall no less, and — get this — smoking the thing. The planned stunt came at the conclusion of the student’s persuasive essay on why marijuana should be legalized. Apparently, the student, who is said to maintain a 3.7 GPA, was looking for a big finish.

Boy did he get one — and it landed him, at least momentarily, in Remann Hall. It also landed his story on the nightly news and on the front pages of local papers. After the student puffed tough and then ate the charred evidence, school officials did what you’d expect school officials to do in such an unusual situation — they escorted the student to the principal’s office and made statements about how illegal activity won’t be permitted on school grounds and that smoking marijuana doesn’t fall under the protection of the First Amendment.



This is undoubtedly true. There’s really no debate.



Aside from the cold hard reality, however, Peninsula’s newfound pot proponent did make me a little nostalgic. You see, it wasn’t all that long ago — in a far away place known as Puyallup High School — when this hack journalist (then just a hack high school student) delivered an essay of his own. My topic was why the DARE program is almost entirely a waste of money. I didn’t end up in juvey, but I certainly did ruffle the feathers of Puyallup High’s aging and square faculty.



The good thing, however — both for Peninsula’s new pot proponent and myself — is what we did in high school rarely goes on to define us as adults. There’s a reason it’s called your formative years, after all.



Now, that’s not to say I disagree with the student’s stance. I actually personally believe he’s correct, for what it’s worth. Current pot laws seem baseless in reality — and, more importantly, they prevent very, very, very few people from smoking the stuff, which, unless I’m sadly mistaken, was supposed to be the idea behind making it illegal in the first place.



But that’s not the point. What I’m getting at is, sooner rather than later, the Peninsula student will come to a crossroads and face a decision. 



The world is full of battles worth waging and causes worth fighting for. Injustice is rampant. There’s a lot of truly unfair shit going on that’s well worth railing against.

While current pot laws may be a little silly — not to mention ineffective — there are bigger fish to fry in this world. Pot is illegal, but pretty much anyone with any interest in smoking it already does.



It’s illegal, but it’s everywhere. Go figure.



Sooner or later Peninsula’s new, most famous student will need to choose a path. Does he continue his (some would say) valiant effort to legalize marijuana — a course that will probably take him to plenty of Hemp Fests and make him something of an icon for the throngs and throngs of people out there already smoking pot, or will he harness his persuasive powers for bigger things?



My hope is for the latter. He’s already proven a knack for rallying support and making headlines — hopefully next time it’ll be for something of more consequence.