What Do College Students Think About Recreational Marijuana?
__large.jpg)
The front door of Mother Murphy's in Normal, Illinois. As it says above the door, it's one of the oldest cannabis paraphernalia shops--known as a 'head shop'--in the Midwest. Julian Hayda/Illinois Public Media
Many Illinois college students are coming back to class for the first time in a state where smoking weed is legal for people 21 and older.
Since young people are known for their experimentation with drugs, and are up to speed with a lot of changes in culture, we wanted to hear their thoughts on the new recreational cannabis law.
Our producer Julian Hayda visited the campus of Illinois State University in Normal ealier this week on the first day of the semester to speak with students.
A few blocks away from the center of campus is a business called Mother Murphy’s. Up a steep staircase covered with graffiti, stickers, and sharpied signatures, you’ll be hit with the strong scent of incense. Inside, drug paraphernalia sit displayed in glass cases, dusty records line the walls and, yes, ISU posters hang alongside psychedelic ones. It’s one of the oldest stores of its kind in the Midwest.
Julian also spoke with the shop’s owner, Becky Williams, who recently put up the 52-year-old business for sale:
We also spoke with Peter Medlin, education reporter for WNIJ in DeKalb, about how colleges in northern Illinois university are dealing with this issue.