Macleans Magazine 111.43 (2006 October 30), page 50.
HIGHER LEARNING
A University of Toronto philosophy prof gets an underground pot-smoking room
By John Intini
Doug Hutchinson marches briskly through Trinity College's cavernous
basement hallway and stops in front of an unmarked door. "We're here,"
he says, key in hand. He pushes the door open, sits cross-legged on a
small red area rug, and lights a joint. "I haven't decorated yet, but
I do have an accent wall," says the University of Toronto philosophy
professor, pointing to the mustard-coloured wall in this
sparsely-furnished room. "When I was asked what colour I wanted in my
'office,' I said, 'it's not my office, it's my pot-smoking room.' The
painter asked, 'how do I get one?' "
Hutchinson, 51, won't reveal the ailment that gives him Health
Canada's permission to smoke marijuana for medical reasons (and, as of
last month, a school-sanctioned smoking room), but says he was
diagnosed with it in 1995 and that it's not a Type-1 condition (like
HIV). He does, however, need up to 10 joints a day for relief. "I
smoke a spliff at the break in my three-hour class to restore my
concentration and focus," he says. "I'm lower when I go back into
class, not higher. And I have way better short-term memory. If you
took one whiff of my spliff, you'd forget where your car is. It has a
very different effect on the virgin head and the seasoned head." (His
doctor backs Hutchinson's claim that the frequency of use makes him
immune to the power of the bud.)
Hutchinson didn't get the go-ahead from Health Canada until last
February, but has been smoking pot on campus for a few years -- in his
"official" second-floor office, but also while hiding out in tree
branches and in a nearby garbage dumpster. "If I couldn't use this
marijuana here I'd have to kill myself -- either literally or
professionally," he says, adding he's been "a pothead all my life --
even when I was a Rhodes Scholar."
His smoking only became an issue last December, after several students
complained to college officials that they could smell weed wafting
from Hutchinson's office. Administration cracked down, says
Hutchinson, because they had kicked a student out of residence for pot
earlier in the year. Margaret MacMillan, Trinity's provost, refuses to
discuss that alleged case. As for Hutchinson, she says the smoking
room -- formerly the North Piano Room -- was determined the best way
to accommodate his health need: "We hired a consultant to look at his
office but it couldn't be outfitted to use for smoking -- we're a
heritage building so you can't just knock a hole in the wall and put a
fan in."
The married father of two started using pot as a remedy in 1996. After
getting weed from a trusted source for several years, Hutchinson
discovered the benefits of medical-grade pot (including the "Snow
White" strain) at a Toronto compassion club in 2004. He's since become
something of a crusader on pot-related issues, protected he says by
the Charter of Rights, not to mention his tenured position at the
university. He still has a full teaching load, but since working on
Plato: Complete Works -- published in 1997 -- his research slate has
been "basically blank." Unfinished work -- including the editing of
Aristotle's ethics -- has been set aside for now. "I'm very open to
carry on my university research on marijuana," he says. "I'd rather do
this than find a new lost work of Aristotle. Why? Because it's
important to Canadians, right now."
Hutchinson says his struggle has been well-supported by students --
although he smokes pot in their presence, he never lights up with
them. ("I don't offer. They don't ask.") It has, however, strained
relations with his peers. There's no hostility, but it's quite telling
that most of the friends Hutchinson has made during 23 years at the
university are former students. A one-time student, however, recently
posted a critique of Hutchinson on the Internet, arguing that his pot
smoking explains his teaching style: "One of the questions on our term
test involved correlating Plato with an excerpt of lyrics from one of
the prof's favourite reggae songs."
Hutchinson laughs it off, crediting the writing of Roman philosopher
Seneca (the subject of one of his courses) with offering good
anger-management advice. Still, he's frustrated, and defends his
professionalism, and his teaching: "I feel massively angry that people
have negative views of me based only on what goes into me and not a
knowledge of what comes out of me."
Contact: letters@macleans.ca
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