United Liberty

Yesterday I finished the book Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? by Steve Fox, Paul Armentano, and Mason Tvert.  There have been a variety of books written about marijuana prohibition, but this book is particularly timely and has an interesting twist on the issue.  They address the past arguments against marijuana prohibition, such as the fact that it prevents law enforcement from responding to more serious crimes, prohibition has made it easier for children to obtain marijuana, regulating the drug would make it safer, etc.  Their main point is that, while these arguments should be enough, they have not struck a chord in the American public.

The book offers a new approach: compare marijuana with alcohol

This is a potentially ground-breaking approach to the fight for marijuana legalization. Fox, Armentano, and Tvert are not new to the public policy scene; Fox works for the Marijuana Policy Project, Armentano NORML, and Tvert SAFER, all organizations working towards reforming our current marijuana laws. They have been engaged in countless debates about marijuana and the pros and cons of legalization. What they have seen in the past few years is that pitting marijuana and alcohol against one another is an extremely effective way of getting their point across.

In our society today people often view those who smoke marijuana, even once, as doing some sort of mortal evil. What this book has done for me personally is clarified what I already knew to be true: marijuana is much safer than alcohol and its use should be looked at as no different than the use of alcohol. I have seen time and time again the hypocritical speech of those who use alcohol yet believe marijuana should be illegal. The evidence, whether it be papers published in professional journals, government research (which I find compelling because of their crusade against marijuana law reform), public health statistics, and law enforcement statistics all point to the fact that marijuana is an extremely safe substance relative to alcohol.

While I could go through the research and arguments presented in the book (and I most assuredly will write blogs from time to time based on this book) it wouldn’t come close to the piece of work the authors have done. If you believe marijuana should be legal or at least decriminalized, this book will reinforce that belief. If you think that marijuana should be illegal, you should read this book and try to refute the argument they present. If you are on the fence or have never looked into this issue, you should definitely read this book.