Marijuana Is Safer book discussion/signing

Local Author To Discuss Acclaimed, Controversial New Book -- Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?


WHO: Paul Armentano -- local author and marijuana policy expert
WHAT: Book discussion and signing for Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?
WHERE: Panama Red Coffee Company, 289 Mare Island Way, Vallejo
WHEN: 5pm, September 18
CONTACT: Jay Seaver, 707-554-2100


Vallejo, CA: Marijuana policy expert and author Paul Armentano will discuss and sign copies of his new, critically acclaimed book -- Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? (Chelsea Green) -- at the Panama Red Coffee Company (289 Mare Island Way, in the Vallejo Ferry Building) at 5pm on Friday, September 18.

This event is free and open to the public. The author will be taking questions from the audience.

Released in August by Chelsea Green Publishing, Marijuana Is Safer compares and contrasts the relative harms and legal status of the two most popular recreational substances in the world – marijuana and alcohol. Through an objective and comprehensive examination of the two drugs and the laws and social practices that regulate them, the Armentano poses a simple yet rarely considered question: Why do we punish adults who make the rational, safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol?

Says the author: "Expert reviews by the World Health Organization, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and many others have each separately concluded that cannabis poses far less risk to the consumer than does alcohol. It makes little sense for our society to condone, if not encourage, the use of alcohol – an intoxicant that directly contributes to tens of thousands of deaths annually and countless social problems – while simultaneously stigmatizing and criminalizing the use of cannabis, a substance that is incapable of causing lethal overdose and is associated with far fewer societal costs."

Critical praise for Marijuana Is Safer has come from a diverse variety of political pundits and commentators including: former Republican Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson, New York Times best-selling author Barbara Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed), former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper, PBS television host Rick Steves, and nationally syndicated columnist David Sirota.

On August 20, the book rose to #14 on Amazon.com's best-sellers list. The title was also recently selected by Publishers Weekly as one of "20 fall titles from independent presses that show big promise."

More information about Marijuana Is Safer is available online at: http://www.marijuanaissafer.com.