MARIJUANA ADVOCATE URGES LEGALIZATION

Tvert: Unlike Alcohol, Marijuana Causes No Deaths

Outlawing marijuana steers people toward drinking alcohol, the
director of a marijuana advocacy organization said in a speech at
Northwestern on Wednesday evening.

The Food and Drug Administration does not approve of marijuana and
the federal government classifies it as an illegal drug. But Mason
Tvert, executive director for Safer Alternative For Enjoyable
Recreation, said to nearly a dozen NU students that marijuana is
safer than alcohol and should be legalized.

Peace Project and the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws-Students for Sensible Drug Policy co-sponsored the
event to prompt NU students to scrutinize the country's drug policy
and foment dialogue about it, Peace Project President Alexa Razma said.

"I don't think someone should be prosecuted for choosing to ingest a
substance if it is causing no harm to others," the SESP sophomore said.

Tvert said alcohol's legal status has serious implications for
college students.

"It sends the dangerous message: 'You are better off drinking than
smoking marijuana because you won't get in as much trouble,'" Tvert said.

NU students can lose financial aid if they get caught in possession
of marijuana, while students busted for underage drinking face
milder repercussions, he said.

"You have to ask, does the punishment fit the crime?" said McCormick
senior Jen Darby, president for NORML-SSDP. The event encouraged her
to rally for marijuana legalization, she said.

Although marijuana and alcohol are both intoxicants, Tvert said
alcohol is more dangerous. Alcohol is a depressant, so consuming too
much alcohol can shut down the body, he said. However, because
marijuana affects the frontal lobe of the brain, which controls
motor skills and creativity, marijuana alone cannot kill, Tvert said.

Tvert also rebutted common arguments against marijuana. Most people
are resistant to the idea of legalizing marijuana because they think
its harmful health effects outweigh the tax revenue it could raise, he said.

Alcohol causes 35,000 deaths each year, while marijuana causes zero,
Tvert said. THC, a chemical in marijuana, prevents carcinogens from
inhaled smoke from settling in the lungs, whereas nicotine, an
addictive chemical in cigarettes, facilitates cancer growth, Tvert said.

"We should acknowledge that it's simply a substance people enjoy
using, and do use, and they shouldn't be prosecuted as criminals," he said.

Tvert's organization helped make Denver the first major U.S. city to
legalize possession of marijuana.

Weinberg junior Anne Canter, who is from Denver, has seen the issue
in action and said she now plans to cite statistics about the danger
of alcohol when the topic comes up with friends.

Weinberg sophomore Ethan Kaplan said he has a personal interest in
the issue. He suffers from insomnia stemming from Tourette Syndrome,
which medical marijuana effectively treats, he said.

"I personally feel prohibiting marijuana is ridiculous," Kaplan
said. "People are so used to hearing it's bad that it becomes like a dogma."

On Friday, the Illinois House of Representatives will vote on a
medical marijuana pilot program.