Colorado -- Amendment 44, the Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative, was proposed for one simple reason: The laws currently on the books force adults to choose alcohol instead of marijuana when they seek to relax or socialize. Given alcohol is far more harmful than marijuana, this makes no sense whatsoever. Let’s consider just a few of the facts.

Alcohol is deadly; marijuana is not. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, approximately 20,000 Americans die annually as the direct result of alcohol consumption. The comparable number for marijuana is zero.

In addition, as the Colorado on-campus deaths of students like Samantha Spady and Gordy Bailey make clear, alcohol overdose deaths are not just possible, but an all-too-frequent occurrence. Marijuana, on the other hand, has never caused an overdose death.

Alcohol increases the likelihood of violent behavior; marijuana does not. For example, the U.S. Department of Justice has reported the following about crime in the United States: “Two-thirds of victims who suffered violence by an intimate (a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend) reported that alcohol had been a factor. Among spouse victims, three out of four incidents were reported to have involved an offender who had been drinking.”

Alcohol is especially problematic on college campuses. Drinking by college students, ages 18 to 24, contributes to an estimated 1,400 student deaths, 500,000 injuries and 70,000 cases of sexual assaults or date rapes each year, according to a 2002 study commissioned by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Task Force on College Drinking.

While these numbers are staggering, some statistics are even more powerful when conveyed as percentages. For example, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health College found that nearly three quarters (72 percent) of all college female rape victims experienced rape while intoxicated.

In order to correct this illogical system, and to give adults the freedom to use marijuana if that is what they prefer, we have proposed making the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana legal for individuals 21 years of age and older. If you look at the language of our proposed measure, you will see this is our only intent. In fact, we specifically make it clear that possession of marijuana by individuals under the age of 21 will remain illegal.

Yet the attorney general of this state, John Suthers, in The Chieftain, has accused us of “recklessly” legalizing transfers of marijuana to minors. He has even libelously said that we are advocating such a change in law.

He knowingly ignored the fact that the drafters of the Blue Book (state voter guide) in the state legislature were the ones who claimed our initiative would legalize transfers to minors, with language the Rocky Mountain News called “misleading” and “false.” In response, we sued the Legislative Council in court in order to clarify that such transfers would remain illegal after passage of our initiative due to the existence of a “contributing the delinquency of a minor” statute.

This statute provides, in very clear language, that it is a felony to aid a minor in breaking a state law. Since possession of marijuana by a minor will still be illegal after passage of our initiative, providing a minor with any amount of marijuana will be a felony.

The attorney general said in his column - and the Chieftain editorial board strangely agreed - that a “creative defense attorney” would somehow convince a judge that people voting for our initiative intended to make transfers of marijuana to minors legal. This is absurd.

The attorney general should be far more concerned about the fact that he is going around the state telling defense attorneys that the contributing to the delinquency of a minor statute does not apply to transfers of marijuana to minors. This means individuals committing such an act will only be charged under current possession laws and subject to a $100 fine, which your paper recognizes as “not a high priority for law enforcement.” If he doesn’t think marijuana should be transferred to minors, why on earth is he telling everyone it is (and should remain) only a $100 fine right now and not a felony? Nice work, Mr. Suthers.

Please don’t let elected officials fool or scare you into keeping marijuana illegal. Those who want to maintain our alcohol-based society - and the violence and death frequently associated with it - are the ones who are truly “reckless.”

Vote YES on Amendment 44 and help make Colorado safer.

On The Net: Marijuana Legalization: http://www.SAFERcolorado.org

Note: Mason Tvert of Denver is the campaign director for SAFER, the political action group promoting Amendment 44 marijuana legalization.

Complete Title: Marijuana Use a Safer Choice Than Alcohol Consumption

Ed: Go Mason, the genie is out of the bottle... Regulation of Marijuana would save many lives ages 21-24. What happens though to the 21 and younger age groups? Unfortunately they will still suffer deaths from Alcohol overdoses, violent crimes and accidents. Age should be lowered to 16 as was recommended with the Canadian Senate Advisory Report of 2001.

Please also read: Long Term Exposure To Cannabis