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SAFER hosts rally

4-11-2005 | ERIN FEESE | Colorado Daily

Voting is in full swing this week, and student government candidates are not the only ones campaigning. SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation) hosted a rally at the UMC Fountain Monday in support of the marijuana referendum.

The referendum is asking students to support the idea that the university's punishments for marijuana violations should not be greater than those for alcohol.

SAFER is a Boulder-based non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the public about the harmful consequences of alcohol as compared to marijuana.

About 30 people gathered to hear from SAFER representatives and from guest speaker Paul Danish, former Boulder city councilman and Boulder County Commissioner.

"Marijuana is much less likely to cause violence and addiction," he said, noting that millions of crimes linked to alcohol use are committed annually in the U.S.

Danish said many problems are associated with marijuana, not with actual use, but with the prohibition of it. He said many societal resources are used to go after marijuana-users that could be better allocated elsewhere.

Danish said the idea that marijuana is safer than alcohol has been around for many years, but quoting Ronald Reagan's famous line "Facts are stubborn things," he said that reality hasn't made a difference in attitudes about it.

Danish said it is important that the information given out about recreational drug usage is honest, especially is a university setting dedicated to intellectual honesty.

CU sophomore Vanessa Cisneros, CU campaign manager for SAFER, said "It is simply poor public policy to encourage students to drink by having harsher penalties for marijuana use."

Cisneros said she is sponsoring the referendum because it is time for the university to accept that marijuana is safer than alcohol.

Mason Tvert, executive director for SAFER, said the university's response to the proposed referendum has been negative. He said the university's stance is that both marijuana and alcohol are equally harmful.

"If you think about it, who's going to cause you more problems, a person using marijuana or a person using alcohol?" Tvert said, adding that a person using alcohol is more likely to be violent or damage property.

So does SAFER endorse marijuana use?

"Absolutely not," Tvert said. "We just don't think the penalties should be harsher for students who choose to partake in a safer alternative to alcohol."

If the referendum passes, it will not prompt any action. It would show that students hold a general consensus about the issue, said Evan Ackerfeld, assistant director of SAFER.

"We want students to get out in numbers and voice their opinions on this," he said.

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