A whiff of marijuana reform is wafting through Colorado State University's main campus this week.

A small group of students wants university administrators to adopt a notion that marijuana is safer to use than alcohol. Three CSU students with the support of a Boulder-based group are gathering signatures from 10 percent of full-time students to put a student-initiated referendum on the ballot for April's student elections.

"It's a safer choice all around," said freshman Zana Buttermore-Baca, one of three students sponsoring the initiative. Buttermore-Baca and other volunteers have until Monday to collect the needed signatures. Organizers said they had more than 500 of the 2,084 required signatures needed as of Wednesday.

The base of the students' argument is that while up to 1,400 college students die from alcohol poisoning each year, according to a National Institutes of Health study, there has never been a reported death caused by an overdose of marijuana, Buttermore-Baca said. Advocating any sort of drug use over another is a dicey position for CSU.

"We are a public university, supported by the taxpayers of Colorado," said Anne Hudgens, CSU's executive director of student judicial affairs. "I think we are bound in every sense to uphold Colorado state law - morally, ethically and legally."

The initiative stokes the fires of alcohol and drug use and abuse at CSU. During the fall semester, two students died in alcohol-related deaths and four more students at other Colorado colleges suffered similar fates. Specifically, the student-initiated referendum calls on CSU leaders to acknowledge marijuana use is safer than alcohol and marijuana punishments shouldn't be any more harsh than alcohol punishments. Also, the initiative calls on CSU to track the frequency of alcohol-related incidents before and after any such change in policy.

The manner in which underage drinking and marijuana use tickets are handled is essentially the same at CSU already, Hudgens said. "We really don't differentiate between marijuana and underage drinking use," Hudgens said, noting there are stricter penalties for selling the drug. When police or residence hall staff notify CSU officials of violations, students are given an educational and health assessment "to determine what should be done to help them get back on track," Hudgens said.

Even if the measure does make it to the ballot and is ratified by students, it would be nonbinding, and CSU administrators would not have to touch it. The initiative is more about the safety of students than legalization of marijuana, said Mason Tvert, executive director of the Boulder-based Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER).

"Greater punishment on drug use directs students to alcohol," Tvert said. "The university should do whatever it can to keep students safe." SAFER already has worked with students at the University of Colorado-Boulder to get a similar measure placed on CU's student ballot.

CSU student body president Katie Clausen said she does not support the initiative but noted the students are exercising rights given to them by the constitution of the student government. Students' opinions on the issue vary. "I don't approve of it," said Steve Krebsbach, 22, a senior majoring in construction management. "If you want to smoke, then smoke, but there is a law against it."

Freshman Greg Haas, 18, who is pursuing a business major, said he agreed in principle with the initiative but noted it would cast CSU in a negative light. "I have friends who have gotten into more trouble with alcohol than marijuana," Haas said. "While it comes out sounding reasonable, I think it makes CSU look bad within the rest of the state."