Many arguments for ending marijuana prohibition are familiar, including the potential tax windfall, freedom of personal choice and the financial and societal costs of a policy that's a failure as a practical matter. Now, a new book uses documented scientific and medical evidence to make a less familiar argument: that punishing  
adults for using marijuana is senseless because, compared with legal and widely accepted alcohol, it's far less harmful.

Steve Fox, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project, visited the Trib to discuss "Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?" (Chelsea Green). Following are excerpts from Fox's discussion of the book, which he co-authored with Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), and Mason Tvert, co-founder and executive director of SAFER (Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation).

Colorado authors will fill the bookshelves with pigskin, pot and more this autumn

September

If you've ever heard the "Marijuana is Safer than Alcohol" message (and been intrigued by it), then Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? (Chelsea Green Publishing, $14.95/paperback, Sept. 15) might be just the book you've been seeking. Mason Tvert, co-founder and executive director of Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), and a member of Denver's Marijuana Policy Review Panel (appointed by Mayor John Hickenlooper), has written a tome, along with Steve Fox and Paul Armentano, that addresses why our nation has been pushed toward alcohol and away from cannabis, and why law reform is needed.

As far as its marijuana laws are concerned, that is.

A city panel recommended on Wednesday that Denver lower its penalty for marijuana possession by adults to just $1. The fine currently sits at $50. The state also mandates an additional $100 surcharge and an additional $10 fee.

“The panel was created by Mayor John Hickenlooper in December 2007 after voters passed an ordinance that made it so adult marijuana possession is the city’s ‘lowest law enforcement priority,’” noted Colorado’s NBC 9News.

The panel voted 6-2 to recommend the fee change, according to The Denver Post.

The $1 fine still requires approval by a Denver judge. Even if the judge agrees, the total penalty for marijuana possession will still stand at $111.

This video is from Colorado’s NBC 9News, broadcast Wednesday, August 26, 2009.

Denver's marijuana policy review panel agreed Wednesday to send a letter to the presiding judge of Denver County Court urging a $1 fine as penalty for possession of marijuana of less than an ounce.  The current fine schedule indicates a $50 fine for such offenses, plus a $100 drug surcharge required by the state of Colorado and a $10 "bureau fee." Mason Tvert, a member of the panel and the executive director of Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation, which has pushed decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, said state law requires the surcharge and the $10 bureau fee. 

DENVER - A city panel in charge of overseeing marijuana possession crimes in Denver recommended on Wednesday that the fine for possession be set at $1.

If Denver's presiding judge accepts the recommendation from the Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel, the fine would be the lowest in the entire nation for marijuana possession.