There's a great column in the Tennessean today from NORML deputy director and "Marijuana is Safer" co-author Paul Armentano.

Here's an excerpt, or you can read entire piece HERE:

And unlike alcohol and tobacco, adverse effects of even heavy cannabis use are minimal. There is no epidemiological evidence in any country, after scores of studies and centuries of use by tens of millions of people, that marijuana smokers have a shorter life expectancy than non-smokers.

They don’t become violent at sports events or beat their spouses and children. They don’t get heart disease, cancer, brain damage or any other deadly illness at a higher rate than those who abstain. In fact, a pair of studies conducted by Kaiser Permanente found that marijuana use, even long-term, was not associated with elevated levels of mortality or incidences of cancer, including types of cancers associated with tobacco smoking.

Late last week, SAFER, along with a broad coalition of state and national organizations, launched the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in support of a 2012 ballot initiative to end marijuana prohibition in Colorado.

SAFER has been and will continue to be a driving force in support of marijuana reform in Colorado.  Moving forward, the organization will be spearheading grassroots organizing and public education efforts, as well as working closely with our coalition partners to run the strongest initiative campaign possible.

The campaign’s first goal is to collect the roughly 85,000 valid signatures of Colorado voters necessary to qualify the measure for next year’s election.  This is no easy feat, so we hope marijuana reform supporters from around the state will get involved in the effort to place this initiative on the ballot.  We also hope you will support our critical role in this historic campaign by making a donation -- in particular, we encourage you to consider signing up to start making automated monthly donations that will help us on an ongoing basis over the next 15 months.

This will be a volunteer-powered grassroots campaign whose success will depend largely on supporters such as you.  So please take a minute to check out the campaign website, sign up to get involved, make a donation, and help us spread the word.  By joining the campaign today you can help end marijuana prohibition in Colorado next year and be part of something that will be written about in history books for years to come.

On June 23, 2011, a handful of U.S. representatives introduced a bill known as the "Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011," which would allow states to handle marijuana however their citizens see fit.

The bill, HR 2306, would grant states the authority to make marijuana legal for adults and regulate it similarly to alcohol.  It would also allow states to implement medical marijuana programs without federal interference.

You can help end the federal government's wasteful and destructive war on marijuana by contacting your representative today and telling them to support HR 2306, the "Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011."

CLICK HERE to Take Action Now