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Steve Fox is the Director of State CampaignsCenso for the
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Mason
Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) in 2005 and has hel
Taylor Haynes at: thaynes@chelseagreen.com is a graduate of Tufts University and Boston College (SAFER
with his wife and two daughters. country
For more information go to: serves
Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML (The N
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“The follies of marijuana prohibition have never been laid bare with
more erudition and plain common sense. Marijuana Is Safer: So Why
Are We Driving People to Drink? is a book every citizen needs to
read, and a question we all have to raise our voices to ask.” —Barbara
Ehrenreich, bestselling author of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By
in America and This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation
“If you are one of the millions of Americans who support keeping
marijuana illegal but enjoy a good beer, glass of wine or cocktail now
and then, I suggest you read Marijuana Is Safer, rehab your mind,
and get high on the facts. If, on the other hand, you already believe
our marijuana laws are illogical, this book will give you hope that
change is in the air--and show you how you can do your part to push it
along.” —David Sirota, nationally syndicated columnist and bestselling
author of The Uprising and Hostile Takeover
“I took great pride in my performance on and off the field, and often
questioned why our culture embraces alcohol while simultaneously
stigmatizing those who choose to consume a less harmful alternative,
marijuana. Marijuana Is Safer makes an irrefutable case for liberating
current cannabis policy by comparing and contrasting its use with that
of alcohol. This outstanding book makes it clear that it is inconsistent,
both legally and socially, for our laws to punish adults who make the
‘safer’ choice.” —Mark Stepnoski, five-time NFL Pro Bowler and two-time
Superbowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys
“In a society too often paralyzed by fear when it comes to finding smart
solutions to our failed drug war, Marijuana Is Safer offers a pragmatic
way forward. The authors offer a new and common sense approach
to marijuana policy--one that is motivated not by incarceration or
punishment, but by reducing the overall harm to our society.”
—Rick Steves, travel guidebook writer and TV and radio host
“As the nation undergoes a shift in its thinking about drug policy,
Marijuana Is Safer offers a timely and forceful challenge to marijuana
criminalization. Anyone with an interest in drug policy, whatever their
perspective, should read this important work.” —Alex Kreit, Director of
the Center for Law and Social Justice, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
“[This] is the most extensive and up-to-date book I’ve ever read
regarding adults’ relationship with the cannabis plant. . . . As
challenging as its conclusion may be to the political majority, this
collection of thought-provoking facts cannot be ignored.” —Rob Van
Dam, former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Heavyweight
Champion and host of robvandam.com and RVDTV
by
No part of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form by any means with-
out permission in writing from the publisher.
Printed in XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
First printing XXXX, 2009
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 09 10 11 12 13
Foreword . . . . . 00
Introduction . . . . . 00
Foreword
vi
vii
Foreword
it, and you’ll agree it is time we stop driving the American people
to drink. Instead, we should simply and logically allow them to use
a safer alternative, if that is what they prefer.
Norm Stamper
June 2009
viii
It’s June 2004 and the city of Lisbon, Portugal, is preparing for war.
Not a literal war, but an epic encounter almost as frightening in its
potential for violence: England is playing France in the opening
round of the Euro 2004 soccer tournament. But the showdown on
the field will be nothing compared to the anticipated battle in the
stands and in the streets. Soon the city will be overrun with one
of Earth’s most dreaded species, the English soccer fan. Branded as
“hooligans,” these fans are notorious for their drunken antics and
their propensity to instigate alcohol-fueled fights, assaults, and, in
some extreme cases, all-out riots.
So with 50,000 rabid Frenchmen and Englishmen descending
upon this normally quiet town, what were the authorities to do?
Ban alcohol? Not a bad guess, but no. Instead, the police announced
that French and English soccer fans would not be arrested or sanc-
tioned in any way for smoking marijuana. A spokeswoman for the
Lisbon police explained the policy to Britain’s Guardian newspa-
per this way: “If you are quietly smoking and a police officer is 10
meters away, what’s the big risk in your behavior? I’m not going to
tap you on the shoulder and ask ‘What are you smoking?’ if you are
posing no menace to others. Our priority is alcohol.”1
In large part because of Lisbon’s novel approach, the highly antic-
ipated match took place without incident. Police made no arrests
during the game, and England’s infamous hooligans behaved remark-
ably peacefully, even in the immediate aftermath of England’s 2-1
defeat by its hated rival. Unfortunately, while this social experiment
ix
Introduction
the idea of granting students the legal right to use a substance that is
less likely to lead to violent behavior.
This is just one example of our nation’s perpetual double stan-
dard surrounding the use of marijuana and alcohol. How did we as
a society end up in this position? Why do we criminally arrest or
discipline people for consuming a substance that is not associated
with acts of violence, yet tolerate and at times even celebrate the use
of another that is? Why do we embrace the use of alcohol, a toxic
substance whose consumption is responsible for hundreds of acute
alcohol-poisoning deaths in the United States each year, while at
the same time condemn the use of marijuana, which is incapable of
causing a fatal overdose? Although marijuana remains the third most
frequently consumed drug of choice in America, trailing in popu-
larity only behind alcohol and tobacco, these questions have never
been addressed at length by either the media or America’s elected
officials. This is about to change.
xi
Introduction
xii
xiii
Introduction
xiv
xv
Introduction
xvi
This book is divided into three parts. In part 1 we compare and con-
trast the social and public health impact of cannabis and alcohol. We
examine the popularity of each drug as well as the potential harms
each one presents to the user and to society. Part 2 details the various
ways our government has attempted to outlaw and demonize mari-
juana over the past seventy-plus years, and explains how these policies
are driving people to drink. In part 3 we provide an overview of past
attempts to reform America’s marijuana laws and propose an alterna-
tive, citizen-driven public-education campaign based on the message
that marijuana is safer than alcohol. Finally, we offer our vision for a
future in which cannabis is regulated and controlled like alcohol, with
laws limiting pot’s sales to licensed establishments and mandating the
enforcement of proper age controls.
In the latter part of the book, we have also included tips and
resources for those of you who want to spread the “marijuana is safer
than alcohol” message among your friends, on your campus, or in
your communities. If this book touches you, we hope you will join
us in our mission to educate the public and help us bring about an
end to marijuana prohibition.
Steve Fox
Director of State Campaigns, MPP
Paul Armentano
Deputy Director, NORML
Mason Tvert
Executive Director, SAFER
xvii
If you’re like most people reading this book, there’s a fairly good
chance that you’ve been “high” from either pot or booze at some
point in your life. Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone. And, quite
frankly, for those of you who have been high, there’s nothing to be
particularly ashamed or embarrassed about.
Many experts believe that humans possess an intrinsic drive to
deliberately alter their consciousness through the use of intoxicating
substances. University of California at Los Angeles professor Ronald
Siegel argues that this desire is biological, on par with such survival
instincts as thirst and hunger.1 He’s hardly alone in his assessment.
Although booze and pot are woven into the fabric of America’s
popular culture, they are typically portrayed in entirely different
ways. The use of alcohol by adults is marketed aggressively, celebrat-
ed openly, and is normally depicted by the media a positive manner.
That’s why most Americans give little, if any, thought to the moral
and health implications surrounding the use of alcohol, and many
could not imagine a society that was anything but accepting of the
public’s “right” to drink.
Just for a moment, we’d like you think about your own social
routine. Now think about how often alcohol plays a role in your
activities. For instance, have you ever given wine to a family mem-
ber as a gift during the holidays? Chances are, you have. Ever gotten
together with friends to have some beers and watch a sporting event
on television? Or asked your colleagues to “grab a drink” after work.
Of course you have. Who hasn’t? And what about the last time you
attended a wedding ceremony? Friends and families “celebrated” the
sports on television? How often have you witnessed pro athletes cel-
ebrate important wins by publicly dousing one another—and usually,
in recent years, at least one attractive female broadcaster—with beer
and champagne. Curiously, were a group of nonathletes to engage in
similar behavior at, let’s say, a private fraternity party, there’s no doubt
that their actions would be castigated (and rightly so) as alcohol abuse
and sexual harassment. Yet this same behavior is routinely aired on
primetime network television following major sporting events with-
out any thought given to the “message” these activities might be send-
ing to younger viewers.
Sports stars also frequently serve as pitchmen for alcohol prod-
ucts. After all, what child of the 1970s can forget watching their
football and baseball heroes comically debating whether Miller Lite
beer “tastes great” or was “less filling.” (The memorable ad cam-
paign, which Miller launched in 1976, was selected as one of the top
ten best ad campaigns of the twentieth century by Advertising Age
magazine.16)
The alcohol industry is a prominent sponsor of professional
sporting events—Major League Baseball’s Colorado Rockies play in
Coors Field, for instance—as well as a prominent advertiser during
televised games. Booze is also a staple of “tailgating”—a longstand-
ing and much revered tradition where sports fans camp out in the
stadium parking lot prior to a game and drink copious amounts
of alcohol. Notably, this tradition is exceedingly popular among
college-age sports fans, many of whom are under the legal age for
alcohol consumption.
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