The University of Central Florida in Orlando is the latest college where students have stood up and voiced their support for safer, more rational marijuana and alcohol policies. Students at UCF -- a campus with an enrollment of nearly 47,000 -- overwhelmingly approved a referendum that recognizes marijuana is safer than alcohol and calls for the equalization of penalties for student marijuana use and student alcohol use. SAFER worked with the UCF chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML ) over the past few weeks to seal the victory.  

The campaign and success of the measure have generated some great news coverage, including this story that appeared in the campus newspaper and this ringing endorsement from the editors. NORML@UCF spokesman Brendon Rivard has also done a number of radio and television interviews since the announcement of the victory. 

Last April, an overwhelming majority of students at the University of Washington in Seattle voted in favor of a SAFER referendum, calling for university penalties for marijuana use that are NO harsher than those for alcohol use.  

The students at UCF and UW join students at major colleges in Colorado, Maryland, and Texas, who have also approved SAFER referenda in student elections. SAFER resolutions have also begun to pop up on the agendas of student governments from Washington, D.C., to Fayetteville, Arkansas. The SAFER message is clearly getting out.  

If you are a college student and wish to get a SAFER campaign started on your university, please contact us and help us help you make your campus safer. SAFER does not have chapters, so we encourage students interested in running SAFER camapaigns to join or start campus NORML or SSDP chapters.