University of Kansas freshman Jason Wren, 19, of Littleton, Colo., was found dead in a fraternity house Sunday afternoon following a night of binge drinking. The honor student and club lacrosse player had drank margaritas, upwards of a dozen beers, and whiskey prior to passing out and being put in bed by friends, according to his father.

"One week of fraternity living killed him," Jay Wren said. "He overdrank. Kids have got to understand alcohol is the worst."

This is yet another incredibly sad story, and we could not agree more with Jason Wren's father: young people must be provided with honest, evidence-based information regarding the relative harms of drugs. Unfortunately, most colleges and universities -- including KU -- continue to refuse to do so. Instead, they refuse to acknowledge the fact that marijuana is safer than alcohol, and that students would pose less harm to themselves and those around them if they used it instead of drinking. Nevertheless, most schools maintain iintellectually dishonest policies that punish students more for using marijuana than for using alcohol, and send a dangerous message that drinking is more acceptable than marijuana use.

SAFER issued a release today calling for a reexamination of alcohol and marijuana policies on college and university campuses nationwide.  The release also called on Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius -- President Obama's recently named selection for Secretary of Health and Human Services -- to assess the potential harm of university policies that penalize students more for using marijuana than for using alcohol.

SAFER's release included the following statement:

Jason Wren would still be alive today had he been using marijuana instead of alcohol while partying this past weekend. The fact that he would have faced harsher school penalties for doing so demonstrates just how irrational college policies are these days.

Universities nationwide are trying everything from encouraging students to drink responsibly, promoting 'social norms drinking,' and even, in some cases, proposing a lowering of the drinking age in order to curb dangerous student alcohol use. If Gov. Sebelius is confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, it is our sincere hope that she will reflect on this tragic alcohol-related student death in her home state and turn a critical eye to this issue. In particular, she should direct the Surgeon General, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration or the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to conduct a study to assess the potential impact of encouraging students to ‘party responsibly’ by using marijuana instead of alcohol, rather than encouraging them to ‘drink responsibly.’  Some may scoff at this idea, but this is literally a matter of life and death. It is time for our nation’s leaders to get their heads out of the sand and take this issue seriously.
 
President Obama said his administration would base its policies and actions on science and evidence. Gov. Sebelius could do just that by leading our nation's colleges in developing safer, more rational alcohol and marijuana policies.

Our nation's 'alcohol-only' policies have got to stop. It's time our colleges and universities stop teaching students to 'drink responsibly,' and start teaching them to 'party responsibly.'

Today's edition of The Exponent, Purdue University's student-run daily newspaper, included an editorial in support of the Purdue NORML chapter's efforts to pass a SAFER referendum on campus. 

News coverage of the effort also appeared in The Exponent last week when the group submitted their petition with nearly double the number of signatures required.  

It included these particularly insightful comments from university officials:

Bob Heitert, director of administration for University Residence Halls, said the zero tolerance policy has been in place for almost 10 years. Students caught with marijuana receive a harsher punishment because unlike alcohol, it is an illegal substance. 

“Illegal drugs are against the law for everyone while alcohol is against the law for a larger portion of students but not for everyone,” he said. “Society seems to take a different approach to alcohol than they do to illegal drugs. We reflect that societal difference.” [emphasis added]

The University's rationale for harsher marijuana penalties -- pot is illegal and alcohol is not -- is pretty absurd. After all, as Bob pointed out, alcohol is illegal for nearly half of the student population. Why is the University less concerned about students breaking a law to use a substance that contributes to deaths, injuries, violence, and date rape, than it is about students breaking a law to use a substance that does not contribute to any such problems? Moreover, why on earth would the school explicitly demonstrate its preference that students use the more harmful of the two?!

Bob goes on to explain just why: they are simply mimicking our society and its irrational "alcohol-only" laws and policies. In fact, this is a great argument in favor of changing marijuana laws at the local, state and federal levels. If marijuana were treated like alcohol and available for responsible adult use, colleges like Purdue could adopt more logical marijuana policies, and stop fueling the dangerous culture of alcohol that is currently plaguing their campuses.