When Michael Phelps partied at the University of South Carolina last November, he was reportedly slamming beers and acting obnoxious. But it was smoking marijuana out of a bong that got him suspended from swimming and dropped by sponsors. In the forthcoming book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?, authors Steve Fox, Paul Armentano, and Mason Tvert wonder if our country has it all backwards.

You can read an excerpt from the book, which comes out in September, on Alternet. In it, the authors point out that the Phelps bong photos hit the web on Super Bowl Sunday, as millions of Americans were drinking beers and watching beer commercials on TV — activities that are expected and encouraged.

Marijuana Is Safer looks at the laws governing both substances and attempts to shatter many of the myths associated with marijuana use. When you consider alcoholism and drunk driving, not to mention revenue that legalizing marijuana could bring, do you think our country has it backwards? Which substance do you think is safer?

The authors of "Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?", including SAFER's Mason Tvert, and the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) have started a Facebook petition that calls on the popular social networking site to allow the word "marijuana" in fan pages and URLs. 

We petition that Facebook allow legitimate entities engaged in lobbying and public education efforts to establish Facebook URLs and fan pages containing the word "Marijuana."

Specifically, we petition in support of allowing the Marijuana Policy Project to set up the Facebook username, facebook.com/MarijuanaPolicyProject, and the authors of the forthcoming book, "Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?," to set up a fan page for "Marijuana is Safer." Up to this point, such actions have been blocked because the proposed names contain a "prohibited word." Attempts to contact Facebook to rectify the situation have not succeeded...

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.

Chelsea Green Publishing in White River Junction plans a July 27 release for "Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?"

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. The authors offer a primer on the cannabis plant and its effects on the user, "debunk the government's most frequently cited marijuana myths," says the publisher.

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.

Those last two go by the acronyms NORML and SAFER.

We're waiting for a group to lay claim to the name DUDE.