Should we be congratulating pot smokers and jailing drinkers? A new book will make the argument that marijuana is a far safer recreational substance than alcohol, and that our national policies should be adjusted to reflect that...

It promises to compare and contrast the relative harms of the two substances — both on personal health and community safety — and examine the laws and social practices that steer people toward alcohol...

Indeed, the book is designed not just to inform but to, you might say, light a fire under potential pro-marijuana activists. It lays out "talking points" that advocates of marijuana-law reform can use on friends, family, colleagues and elected officials. Its authors represent three organizations dedicated solely to marijuana policy reform: the Marijuana Policy Project, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, and Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation.

NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano was on the Tenth Amendment Center Podcast today to discuss the unconstitutional nature of the war on marijuana and other reform topics. He also discussed the soon-to-be-released book, Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?, which he co-authored with SAFER co-founders Steve Fox and Mason Tvert. The book will be available next month. 

Last summer, chancellors and presidents of universities and colleges across the United States signed on to the Amethyst Initiative , a public statement that encourages schools to consider lowering the drinking age to address the fact that "the problem of irresponsible drinking by young people continues despite the minimum legal drinking age of 21, and there is a culture of dangerous binge drinking on many campuses."  

Despite recent efforts, the dangerous campus culture of binge drinking prevails :

A recent study has confirmed something university officials have been aware of for some time: Drinking among college students is on the rise.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism study showed the number of college students binge drinking between 1998 and 2005 rose from 42 percent to 45 percent. The number of alcohol-related deaths among 18-to-24-year olds rose to 1,825 from 1,440 during the same seven-year period.

At the University of Maryland, where University President Dan Mote and University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan are both signatories of the Amethyst Initiative, their campus alcohol coalition understands that students reflect society at large, and as long as drinking is accepted and promoted, it's no wonder they'll just keep boozing. 

"National trends getting worse are quite concerning," Kelley said. "Our students aren't immune from the direction of society and culture, and if it continues to get worse, I suspect we'll see the evidence here as well."