Yesterday, we told you the story of John Gailey, who was cited for trespassing and banned from the Town Center of Aurora mall for a year because he refused to take off a "Yes We Cannabis" T-shirt.

No word yet about whether the mall has apologized and approved the wearing of marijuana-themed shirts in the future, as Gailey's attorneys, Rob and Jessica Corry, have asked. But marijuana advocate Mason Tvert isn't waiting. He's organizing a 4 p.m. protest tomorrow during which protesters, including Gailey's parents, will march through the mall wearing pro-pot T-shirts.

Tvert: Unlike alcohol, marijuana causes no deaths

Outlawing marijuana steers people toward drinking alcohol, the director of a marijuana advocacy organization said in a speech at Northwestern on Wednesday evening.

The Food and Drug Administration does not approve of marijuana and the federal government classifies it as an illegal drug. But Mason Tvert, executive director for Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation, said to nearly a dozen NU students that marijuana is safer than alcohol and should be legalized.

Mason Tvert, executive director of SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation), has spent five years arguing that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol -- and even critics would have to agree that his creativity in promoting this idea is off the charts.

A boycott of Starbucks because of the store's tenuous link to an anti-weed group? Absolutely. Bamboozling his way onto the Amazon books best-seller list? Sure. Suggesting that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger might have been able to avoid sexual-assault accusations if he'd smoked instead of drank? Damn straight.

His latest gambit: Shortly after Congress adapted Representative Betsy Markey's resolution in praise of the craft-beer industry, Tvert publicly beseeched her to do the same for the medical marijuana business. After all, his release declares, MMJ dispensary owners "are also entrepreneurs who are crafting a product that is useful to society."

Voting for the measure is "a no-brainer," Tvert feels. To find out why, read on:

In 2006, Colorado voters shut down a statewide ballot initiative that would have legalized possession of marijuana with a resounding 61 percent to 38 percent. But, according to a new Rasmussen Reports poll, things have changed.

Now, according to Rasmussen, a full 49 percent of Coloradans support legalizing and taxing marijuana, and only 39 percent think it should remain illegal. With the remaining 13 percent undecided, these new numbers might give a likely new legalization ballot measure this year some real ammunition.

The poll "demonstrates that a growing number of people around Colorado are recognizing the failures of marijuana prohibition," said Mason Tvert, head of the pro-marijuana group SAFER.

"(Marijuana legalization) is far from the fringe," he added. "It's actually a lot more popular than many statewide candidates."

So who knows? Maybe this time next year, liquor stores could have a new product on their shelves, sandwiched between Jack Daniel's and Captain Morgan. Maybe they'll even call it the "Colorado Crop."

Poll: Growing support for legalization; med pot industry braces for likely regs

A leading marijuana-legalization activist believes a poll showing that almost half of Coloradans’ support legalizing and taxing marijuana is a “sign of things to come.”

Meanwhile, some medical marijuana activists are figuring out how to move forward following the Legislature’s passage of bills aimed at limiting the industry.

Mason Tvert of Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), a group dedicated to pointing out the ways they believe marijuana is safer than alcohol, believes the Rasmussen poll released last week showing that 49 percent of the state’s voters support legalizing marijuana is proof that marijuana legalization will happen in the foreseeable future. 

“Right now, the percentage of Coloradans who support legalizing and regulating marijuana is above the support voters have right now for one governor candidate,” he said. “Whose fringe now?”

The SAFER pizza comes with red sauce, basil, tomatoes, garlic, feta and mozzarella and will sell for the same prices as its other specialty pizzas: $17.99 for a large; $16.99 for a medium; and $13.99 for a small. One dollar of each pizza, and 25 cents of each slice, will be set aside for SAFER. Slices go for $2.50 apiece.

Sexy Pizza owner Kayvan Khalatbari says he got the idea after chatting with SAFER executive director Mason Tvert. The idea for the toppings, he says, originated with an employee who had tried the pizza combination and wanted to put it on the menu. The new pie launched in association with SAFER's recent fifth anniversary celebration.