The College Democrats on campus have officially endorsed a curious rally meant to raise political awareness about medical marijuana in the student body. On April 20, from 12 to 2 p.m., there will be a variety of marijuana themed music, prizes, and activities presented in the Amphitheater.

Matthew Markovitch, the president of the College Democrats, originally thought up the idea behind this rally in hopes of shaking things up on campus. This event is a chance for students to learn about this controversial issue through an enjoyable experience.

“As a political science student, our teachers have always said that they wanted to see more protesting here on campus, they wanted to see more student involvement, more rallies, when it comes to raising political awareness,” Markovich said. “That’s actually the motto of our organization, we are here to raise political awareness in the students.”

All students are invited to attend this free event and participate in the educational events that will have a unique twist to them to stick to the marijuana theme. There will be a trivia game where there are a variety of questions regarding the legal status, social effects and medical benefits of marijuana. Students can also expect a few other physical or recreational games where they can receive prizes. The College Democrats will also be selling normal brownies, and all the money will go to benefit an undecided charity.

“We haven’t decided yet but we’re thinking one of two,” Markovich said. “One of the charities could be a more locally based community organization that focuses on helping people pay for their electric and water bills or something that would make more sense and stay true to the rally would be donating the profit to medical marijuana research.”

Markovitch is a strong supporter and believer in the main idea of the rally. Over the years he has written a few papers on the disadvantages and harm that comes with keeping marijuana illegal and also how medical marijuana can in fact help people.

There are many cases in recent news that help to show the positive effects of medical marijuana. Kara Zartler, a 17 year old girl from Texas has cerebral palsy and severe autism, that causes her strike herself in random attacks that can range from mild slaps to bones breaking. The only medicine that her parents have seen to work immediately and efficiently is marijuana.

However, Kara’s parents are in a difficult situation because just owning the drug is a crime that could land them six months in jail, but without the use of anything as strong as marijuana, they would be considered negligent parents for allowing her to hit herself. Despite this, her parents are trying to help their daughter by bringing enough awareness to their dilemma in hopes that Texas lawmakers legalize medical marijuana.

Despite the fact that this rally focuses on the controversial issue of marijuana legalization, the College Democrats have not received any negative backlash from students or faculty. Markovitch remembers that during his time here, everybody he has encountered is actually supportive of medical marijuana if not recreational.

“We haven’t gotten anybody radically coming up to us to protest and saying we shouldn’t put this on or that we shouldn’t do this. That doesn’t happen,” Markovich said. “We’ve talked to many people and most say that they support the legalization of medical marijuana at the very least. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I’ve met anybody who doesn’t support medical marijuana legalization here at this university.

The Political Medical Marijuana Awareness Rally will be a unique and interesting assembly that this university has never seen before and through this everyone will have the chance to learn more about an issue that has been a great debt in politics for many years.