"Democracy is a beautiful thing," commented Ryan Walsh, adjusting the Flaming Lips tee peeking out from under his drug rug. "I find it really important," he added, "that we do our civic duty and make our voices heard." When asked for a follow-up comment, Ryan declined, although he has continues to vouch for the US Judicial system from Instagram handle @flyR420.

Missouri Propositions Draw Youth Voters Out At An All-Time High

Clayton, MO – On November 6th 2018, Missouri’s youngest voters stormed the polls with record-breaking numbers. Among young voters, you may have heard the claim, “The 2018 midterm election will be the most important election of our lifetime,” but why? Our investigative reporters went out into the community to get to the bottom of this sudden and unparalleled urgency to cast a ballot.

Political activist, member of WashU Votes, and five time St. Louis County debate champion Jerry Markowitz told us about his own experience canvassing this past year. “Getting out the vote is all about knowing your audience, and I can tell you one thing for certain: the kids come out for ‘kush.’ Knock on the doors of Umrath 4 and tell students they can exercise their constitutional rights for an eighth and you got the kids vaping their way to the polls.”

The promise of legalized medical marijuana within the state of Missouri has been a hit with the youngest voter demographic. On November 6th, senior, member of Kappa Sigma and SoundCloud rapper, Jack Weinberg, aka Jack the Reef3r, informed us about his personal voting advocacy project. “I told my fans, for every one that voted yes on the keef bill, I’d take a fat chop,” stated Weinberg while rolling what we perceived as an impressively “fat” blunt.

It seems however, the surge in young interest surrounding the 2018 election reached beyond the Danforth Campus. To find out more, our reporters took to Clayton High School. After recovering one of our interns from inside a locker, being called “shitbags,” having our lunch stolen, and in one case being told “you can’t sit with us,” senior Robert McRobertson responded to our questions in exchange for doing his AP Calculus homework. He informed us, “When I found out there was kush on the ballot, I hit up my older brother’s homie at S&T for a Missouri fake.”

With the Medical Marijuana propositions passed, Healthcare service reforms are underway within the university. Student Health Services informed our reporters that their South 40 location will be closed for renovation to include the University’s first dispensary. Student Health directors expect the project to be completed by April 2022—just in time for the graduation of the current freshman class.