A great column from registered nurse Lanny Swerdlow appeared in today's edition of the Palm Springs newspaper, The Desert Sun.  In it, Swerdlow highlights the relative safety of marijuana compared to alcohol and suggests California would be a safer and healthier state if Proposition 19 -- the measure to control and tax cannabis -- is adopted by voters in November. 

A couple great excerpts are below, or you can read the entire column by clicking HERE.

Proposition 19 opponents point to the societal and health costs of alcohol as proof there will be increased costs if marijuana is legalized. Truth be told, health care costs will go down when responsible adults are allowed to make the rational, safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol...

Revenue raised, police resources wisely used are excellent reasons to support Proposition 19, but it is the ability of marijuana to replace alcohol as a relaxant and mood enhancer without the liver destroying, judgment impairing and violence inducing properties of alcohol that makes the passage of Proposition 19 vital to the health of the individual and the community.

Marijuana is Safer coauthor and NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano stuck it to U.S. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske in a column in today's Los Angeles Times. 

In a nutshell, Kerlikowske et al argue that, if legalized, marijuana's perceived social costs would outweigh the economic benefits reaped by regulation. They base this allegation largely on the premise that present taxes on alcohol and cigarettes fail to adequately pay for the societal costs associated with those drugs' use and abuse. True enough, but here's why this sound bite is irrelevant to the present marijuana debate.

Marijuana is safer than alcohol.

Read the full column to see his concise explanation.  We also encourage you to check out a couple other great pieces he just had published -- this one at the Christian Science Monitor, and this one at AlterNet.