Members of a University of Colorado at Colorado Springs group known as Students for Sensible Drug Policy, along with the Denver-based group Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), held a news conference Tuesday to protest their exclusion from a school health fair. They wanted to present information showing marijuana is safer than alcohol — because it lacks alcohol's association with overdose deaths, violent crime and heavy addiction — but they were turned down. The students claim it's irresponsible for schools like UCCS to promote "responsible drinking," even to underage students, while ignoring a healthier alternative.

"This event was just one in a string of events ... across the country," says Mason Tvert, SAFER executive director.

A new Gallup Poll says 44 percent of Americans — a record high (no pun intended) — want to legalize pot. Also, the Obama administration recently announced it would not seek to arrest users and suppliers of medical marijuana as long as they comply with state laws.

In response, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers says he thinks Colorado lawmakers ought to regulate pot dispensaries, prompting outrage from marijuana patients and supporters. Tvert says Suthers should focus on more pressing problems, such as deaths from recreational prescription drug abuse.

Booze or pot?

For a group of about 50 students at Tuesday’s “healthy choices fair” at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, the choice is clear: Pot is the lesser of two evils.

The UCCS chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy protested the annual fair because members claimed school officials refused to make available their information about “the relative harm” of marijuana versus alcohol and instead promoted “responsible alcohol use” at the event.

“I’ve seen how college students like to have fun, and every study proves cannabis is far better for you than alcohol. We’d like to educate students on this safer way of partying,” said senior Stephanie Morphet, president of the student group, which formed this semester.

Joining the protest at the group’s invitation was Mason Tvert of Denver, co-founder of the nationwide Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation, and co-author of the newly released book, “Marijuana is Safer: So why are we driving people to drink?”

A group of UCCS students thinks it's unfair they weren't allowed to be part of a school health fair.

"I heard about the healthy choices fair and it seemed a really good opportunity to educate the student body about the relative harms of alcohol versus cannibis," said Stephanie Morphet, of  Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

Morphet says she asked if her group could have a table at the health fair and was told she couldn't

"It's time we stopped driving these students to drink," said Mason Tvert, head of SAFER, which stands for Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation.  "We allow them to make the safer choice and at the very least, provide them with the information they need to make the safer choice."

Tvert says alcohol leads to overdose deaths, sex assaults and fights while marijuana doesn't and believes schools should be giving students this information.

UCCS disagrees. "We don't endorse the illegal use of alcohol or the illegal use of drugs as part of our campus," said Tom Hutton, university spokesperson.

The protest was peaceful.  UCCS and Springs police and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office were on campus for the health fair.

Early voting in Summit County started Monday, Nov. 3 is Election Day

Sensible Colorado is a state nonprofit working to create a system where drug use becomes a health issue, not a crime issue. According to its website, the organization wants to do this through “innovative drug policy reform” focusing on education, treatment opportunities and reductions in “incarcerations, crime, drug use by minors, and strains on the judicial system and police departments.”

Gary Lindstrom — a long-time Breckenridge resident, law enforcement veteran, and former state representative and county commissioner — also spoke in support of reform at the press conference, held on the steps of the old County Courthouse.

“Based on my experiences in law enforcement and at the state Legislature, I believe we need to stop criminalizing responsible adults who choose to relax at night with marijuana,” Lindstrom said.

According to Lindstrom, too much money and time goes into policing private marijuana use — “Our priorities are misplaced,” he said. “We should decide to save billions of dollars and use it on health care and education.”

Lindstrom also said he believes marijuana to be “an innocuous drug” — not a a gateway drug leading to cocaine and heroine use. And he noted that alcohol-related deaths have occurred in the county, but there have “been no such problems with marijuana. Let's stop punishing adults for making the safer choice when recreating.”

Vicente added that minor marijuana convictions have serious impacts on people's lives, citing difficulties with finding employment, entering the military or receiving student financial aid.

The Breckenridge Police Department didn't comment on the marijuana decriminalization ballot question.