Last week, 14 percent of the student body voted in the Associated Student Government executive elections and approved all three ballot initiatives - including the SAFER Referendum, which called for punishments of alcohol and marijuana offenses to at least be equal, citing that marijuana is "safer" to use than alcohol.

Despite the dismal participation and embarrassing Web site error that wouldn't allow some eager young voters to even cast a ballot, the results remain unchallenged, and UA administrators - including Daniel Pugh, vice provost for Student Affairs, who wrote a letter to the student body prior to the election urging them to think twice before approving the referendum - are rightfully working to comply with the students' wishes.

The SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation) campaign, sponsored by the UA chapter of NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), was well-organized and obviously effective, and we're pleasantly surprised that the administration isn't fighting - at least not openly - the referendum's passage.

But that doesn't quite mean that we agree with the 67 percent of voters - or, judging from the percentage of students who participated in the election, the little more than 2,000 students - who voted to approve the measure.

Members of NORML emphasized in their campaign that alcohol is responsible for thousands of injuries and deaths each year, and they lamented that college and university officials across the nation appear to be accepting alcohol use as a "social norm."

NORML might be right. One hundred and thirty university presidents and chancellors, for example, signed the Amethyst Initiative, advocating a lower drinking age - which arguably makes evident their lack of commitment to enforcing the current drinking age of 21.

Underage alcohol consumption shouldn't be promoted. But the UA has never advocated using alcohol over marijuana through its sanctions - it's simply stayed in line with national law, treating marijuana as what it is: a completely illegal substance.

And the administration undoubtedly knows that marijuana's not exactly "safe" to use, either. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana drastically heightens users' risk of heart attack; is linked to depression, anxiety and schizophrenia; is, indeed, addictive; and could have an "adverse impact on learning and memory … for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off."

Regardless, the SAFER Referendum passed and punishments will be equalized.

But don't misunderstand: marijuana is still an illegal substance, and until that issue is amended on Capitol Hill, there's no reason that offenses for marijuana use and alcohol use should be punished equally.