MILWAUKEE (WKOW) --  Some University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee students are joining 80 other colleges to push for legalized marijuana.

The students nationwide say "Stop Driving Us to Drink". They want to be able to use marijuana, what they call a safer alternative to alcohol.

More than eighty colleges and universities in 34 states are taking action on campus on April 1, but they say this is no April Fools joke.   It's the first day of National Alcohol Awareness Month.  Students will be out on their campuses distributing information about the relative harms of alcohol and marijuana, as well as holding signs and banners that read: "This is NOT a joke... Let us make the SAFER choice!"

The students argue that laws and policies on and around most college campuses punish students more harshly for marijuana use than for alcohol use, steering them toward drinking and away from using marijuana -- a far less harmful substance -- instead. "Every objective study on marijuana has concluded that it's far safer than alcohol for the user and for society," said Josh Bazett-Jones, president of SSDP at WSU. "Yet laws and campus policies punish students more harshly for marijuana, sending the dangerous message that alcohol is more acceptable despite the fact that it contributes to all sorts of serious problems that are not associated with marijuana use.

On Thursday, students at more than 80 colleges and universities across the country -- including the University of Arkansas -- will hold rallies on their campuses to urge their universities allow them to use marijuana as what they say is a safer recreational alternative to alcohol.

The students are members of the University of Arkansas chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).April 1 marks the first day of National Alcohol Awareness Month and students will be out on their campuses distributing information about the relative harms of alcohol and marijuana, as well as holding signs and banners that read: "This is NOT a joke... Let us make the SAFER choice!"

The students argue that laws and policies on and around most college campuses punish students more harshly for marijuana use than for alcohol use, steering them toward drinking and away from using marijuana -- which they say is a far less harmful substance -- instead.

The rally will take place at 11:30 a.m. Thursday on the UA campus between the Student Union and Mullins Library.

DENVER (AP) ― College students at nine Colorado campuses plan protests calling for easier penalties for students who smoke pot.

A national group in favor of marijuana legalization is putting on the rallies at campuses nationwide Thursday. The students argue that stiff punishments for being caught in a campus dorm with pot steer students to booze and promote binge drinking.

The group has helped students at 13 colleges pass measures calling on their schools to set pot penalties no worse than alcohol violations. So far, no schools have changed their penalties.

Colorado colleges ban on-campus marijuana use, even for students with medical marijuana clearance.