SFA UNDER FIRE FOR LENIENCE ON ALCOHOL-RELATED INCIDENTS

Following the death of an SFA student from alcohol poisoning, SFA is
being accused of being far more lenient toward alcohol-related
incidents than marijuana-related ones.

In a press release, Colorado-based nonprofit group Safer Alternative
For Enjoyable Recreation criticized SFA for policies that penalize
marijuana use more heavily than alcohol, despite statistics that show
alcohol is related to far more deaths than marijuana.

"There is no logical reason why an institution of higher education
should punish a student more for using marijuana than for using
alcohol and this incident demonstrates what can happen when students
are steered toward drinking by such imbalanced policies," said SAFER
Executive Director Mason Tvert.

Since it's not possible to overdose on marijuana, proponents of the
drug, like Tvert, argue that it is much safer than alcohol. Two large
studies, one conducted by a large HMO on over 60,000 men and women
ages 15-49 over a period of ten years and one conducted on Swedish
army constructs over a period of 15 years, have concluded that
marijuana users are no more likely to die than non-users.

SAFER works to raise awareness of laws and universities policies.
They passed a student referendum at UT Austin asking the University
to change their policies.

"Universities are responsible for maintaining student health and
safety," Tvert said.