In response to the war on drugs, the Penn State chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is attempting to unite faculty and students in an effort to address the problems raised by prohibiting marijuana.

The group is circulating a petition among faculty to oppose the use of student-on-student drug informants. This measure, they say, is only one of their long-term goals to reform the marijuana laws in State College.

However, Penn State NORML seems to forget the choice to work as an informant for the police is ultimately the student's.

Although the police have the power to offer sentence reductions, they cannot force anyone to accept. Yes, the job of an informant comes with significant risks, but it is standard practice in law enforcement and often the only way that police can gain access to a crime. Moreover, informants are not exclusive to drug cases and outlawing student-on-student informing in any case could be detrimental in other investigations.

NORML needs to concentrate on the larger problem: the severity of marijuana laws in State College. To achieve this, the group is working toward a loftier goal: decriminalizing marijuana use.

Decriminalizing marijuana would downgrade the misdemeanor or felony charge of possession to a summary offense as long as the offender is carrying less than an ounce. Summary offenses, like parking tickets, are punishable by fines, usually no more than $25 for a first offense.

If State College adopts this policy, it would join the ranks of other college towns, such as Ann Arbor, Mich., and Berkeley, Calif., and the 13 states that have decriminalized pot.

This change could give the police more time and money to investigate more important crimes on campus and throughout the borough such as sexual assault and homicide.

More than 700,000 Americans are jailed each year under marijuana laws. Just last week, the Penn State University Police cited about a dozen students for possession. And after a semester filled with student deaths, rapes and fires, the police obviously have more serious issues to tend to than patrolling dorm rooms.

NORML needs to lobby the legislature to reform possession laws so the punishment fits the crime.