FAYETTEVILLE - A University of Arkansas student referendum this week seeking to lessen campus marijuana penalties has spawned a war of written words between the measure's advocates and UA's dean of students.

The student-driven voter referendum that calls for equalizing internal campus sanctions associated with marijuana and alcohol violations began Monday and runs through Thursday.

Fayetteville campus students can vote online or in person on the ballot question:

"Do you agree that University sanctions for the possession and use of marijuana should be NO greater than those imposed by the University for the possession and use of alcohol, and that the University should establish a task force to develop, implement and study such a policy?"

Rob Pfountz, campus director of "NORML U of A," said the ballot initiative doesn't seek to legalize marijuana, or address criminal penalties at all.

Rather, the group contends that UA's internal system of judicial sanctions doesn't rec- ognize that alcohol is the more dangerous drug.

"As it stands now, the penalties here on campus for marijuana are about two times greater than those for alcohol," said Pfountz, 24, of Memphis, a sophomore political science major.

But in a letter the dean of students sent to students Friday, he said alcohol's status as a legal drug and marijuana's as an illegal one is the reason for the difference.

"All students know that it is against the law for an individual under the age of 21 to use or possess alcohol," wrote Daniel Pugh, dean of students and vice provost for student affairs. "Students also know that it is illegal for anyone to use or possess marijuana."

"Yes, marijuana is sanctioned differently from alcohol because marijuana is an illegal substance," Pugh's letter continued. "Individuals choosing to possess and/or use marijuana merit different educational sanctions from those who violate the alcohol policy."

Pugh opened his letter by saying students weren't hearing the opposition stance to the ballot measure.

"It is not my intent to influence your vote, but to allow you to make a more informed decision," he wrote.

His letter goes on to point out various studies detailing the harmful effects of marijuana. These included a 1999 study in Addiction Journal concerning marijuana dependence among 15- to 24-year-olds and a 2005 study in the American Journal of Psychiatry documenting how the drug's use can damage personal relationships and employment.

The marijuana backers' responded with their own letter, and held a news conference Tuesday morning outside the student union.

They then planned to march to Pugh's office, but there was no need when Pugh showed up for the news conference.

That led to "polite debate" that basically reiterated arguments both sides made in their letters, said Ryan Denham, 26, a junior architecture major from Joplin, Mo.

NORML U of A, the campus's student chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, is a registered student organization that has been working with the nationwide effort, SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation).

Though most ballot initiatives come out of UA's student government body - the Associated Student Government - in this instance, the student body itself was the vehicle.

It's been at least five years since there was a student-driven ballot initiative at the university, said Patrick Monroney, director of its Center for Leadership and Community Engagement.

The NORML chapter was able to gather enough petition signatures to do so.

Dayna Healy, adviser to the Associated Student Government and assistant director for the center, said roughly 1,200 signatures were needed, or 25 percent of the voter turnout in the most recent election for the students' executive officers.

The marijuana advocates turned in 1,740 signatures, and more than 1,300 of them were certified as valid.

The advocates say marijuana, unlike alcohol, doesn't kill people or encourage them to commit violence or sexual assaults.

Denham is advising NORML U of A on this initiative, having been a veteran of recent municipal efforts in Fayetteville and Eureka Springs to make marijuana a low law-enforcement priority.

"With Fayetteville and Eureka, we were talking about police resources, tax dollars and clogging the courts and jails," Denham said.

"The difference with this campus effort is we're just talking about marijuana being physiologically and sociologically safer. And that's it," he said. "Safer to the user and safer to society."