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DESCRIPTION:On Tuesday, August 4, from 5-8 p.m., please join SAFER, NORML, and the 
 Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) at the Oaksterdam University Student Union 
 in Oakland to launch the highly acclaimed new book, Marijuana Is Safer: So 
 Why Are We Driving People to Drink?\n\nCo-authors Mason Tvert (of SAFER) 
 and Paul Armentano (of NORML) will be on hand to discuss Marijuana Is 
 Safer, beginning at 6 p.m., followed by a session of Q & A and time for 
 book-signing.\n\nMore information on Marijuana Is Safer is available below 
 or at http://www.MarijuanaIsSafer.com\n\n\nWHAT: Launch Party and Book 
 Signing for Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to 
 Drink?\n\nWHO: Co-Authors Mason Tvert of SAFER and Paul Armentano of 
 NORML\n\nWHEN: Tuesday, August 4, 5-8 p.m., Author discussion begins at 6 
 p.m.\n\nWHERE: Oaksterdam Student Union, 1915 Broadway, Oakland, Just steps 
 from the 19th St./Oakland BART Station (MAP)\n\n\nAbout the 
 Book\n\nNationally recognized marijuana-policy experts Steve Fox, Paul 
 Armentano, and Mason Tvert compare and contrast the relative harms and 
 legal status of the two most popular recreational substances in the 
 world-marijuana and alcohol. Through an objective examination of the two 
 drugs and the laws and social practices that steer people toward alcohol, 
 the authors pose a simple yet rarely considered question: Why do we punish 
 adults who make the rational, safer choice to use marijuana instead of 
 alcohol?\n\nMarijuana Is Safer reaches for a broad audience. For those 
 unfamiliar with marijuana, it provides an introduction to the cannabis 
 plant and its effects on the user, and debunks some of the government's 
 most frequently cited marijuana myths. For current and aspiring advocates 
 of marijuana-law reform, as well as anyone else who is interested in what 
 is becoming a major political battle, the authors spell out why the message 
 that marijuana is safer than alcohol must be a prominent part of the public 
 debate over legalization.\n\nMost importantly, for the millions of 
 Americans who want to advance the cause of marijuana-policy reform-or 
 simply want to defend their own personal, safer choice-this book provides 
 the talking points and detailed information needed to make persuasive 
 arguments to friends, family, coworkers, and elected officials.\n\n\nAbout 
 the Authors\n\nSteve Fox is the Director of State Campaigns for the 
 Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), the nation's largest organization dedicated 
 to reforming marijuana laws. From 2002-2005, he lobbied Congress as MPP's 
 Director of Government Relations. He cofounded Safer Alternative for 
 Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) in 2005 and has helped guide its operations 
 since its inception. He is a graduate of Tufts University and Boston 
 College Law School and currently lives in Maryland with his wife and two 
 daughters.\n\nPaul Armentano is the deputy director of NORML (The National 
 Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and the NORML Foundation. A 
 recognized national expert in marijuana policy, health, and pharmacology, 
 he has spoken at dozens of national conferences and legal seminars and has 
 testified before state legislatures and federal agencies. He appears 
 regularly on Drew Pinsky's nationally syndicated radio show, Dr. Drew Live, 
 and his work has appeared in over 500 publications. Armentano is the 2008 
 recipient of the Project Censored Real News Award for Outstanding 
 Investigative Journalism. He currently lives in California with his wife 
 and son.\n\nMason Tvert is the cofounder and executive director of SAFER 
 (Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation) and the SAFER Voter Education 
 Fund. He appears frequently in the news and travels the country promoting 
 the "Marijuana Is Safer Than Alcohol" message. He resides in Denver, where 
 he serves on the city's Marijuana Policy Review Panel appointed by Mayor 
 John W. Hickenlooper.\n\n\nAdvance Praise\n\n"The follies of marijuana 
 prohibition have never been laid bare with more erudition and plain common 
 sense. Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? is a book 
 every citizen needs to read, and a question we all have to raise our voices 
 to ask."\n\n-Barbara Ehrenreich, bestselling author of Nickel and Dimed: On 
 (Not) Getting By in America and This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a 
 Divided Nation\n\n\n"Finally, a book that confronts the half-baked 
 hallucinations of a drug policy gone mad. If you are one of the millions of 
 Americans who support keeping marijuana illegal but enjoy a good beer, 
 glass of wine or cocktail now and then, I suggest you read Marijuana is 
 Safer, rehab your mind, and get high on the facts. If, on the other hand, 
 you already believe our marijuana laws are illogical, this book will give 
 you hope that change is in the air--and show you how you can do your part 
 to push it along."\n\n-David Sirota, nationally syndicated columnist and 
 bestselling author of The Uprising and Hostile Takeover\n\n\n"I have always 
 maintained that the legalization of marijuana would lead to an overall drop 
 in substance abuse in this country. In particular, the option of legal 
 marijuana use, as an alternative to the death and violence associated with 
 alcohol use, would be a welcome societal change. Surprisingly, though, 
 there has never been a book dedicated to conveying this basic idea to the 
 public. But with Marijuana is Safer, now there is. Kudos to Fox, Armentano, 
 and Tvert for their remarkably insightful and important book."\n\n-Gary 
 Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico\n\n\n"Our current draconian laws 
 prohibiting the use of marijuana by responsible adults are doubly flawed. 
 Not only does such prohibition violate fundamental freedoms but also, as 
 this book documents, it undermines personal health and public safety. 
 Regardless of your views on the civil liberties issues, this book should 
 convince you of another compelling justification for marijuana law reform: 
 that it will promote health and safety for all of us, including our 
 nation's children."\n\n-Nadine Strossen, former President, American Civil 
 Liberties Union, and Professor of Law, New York Law School\n\n\n"From my 
 own work and the experiences of other members of the law enforcement 
 community, it is abundantly clear that marijuana is rarely, if ever, the 
 cause of disruptive or violent behavior. That marijuana causes very little 
 social harm is reason enough in a free society to legalize it for adults. 
 But as Steve, Paul, and Mason so brilliantly demonstrate in this book, an 
 even more persuasive reason is that by prohibiting marijuana we are 
 steering people toward a substance that far too many people already abuse, 
 namely alcohol."\n\n-Norm Stamper, former Chief of the Seattle Police 
 Department\n\n\n"I took great pride in my performance on and off the field, 
 and often questioned why our culture embraces alcohol while simultaneously 
 stigmatizing those who choose to consume a less harmful alternative, 
 marijuana. Marijuana Is Safer makes an irrefutable case for liberating 
 current cannabis policy by comparing and contrasting its use with that of 
 alcohol. This outstanding book makes it clear that it is inconsistent, both 
 legally and socially, for our laws to punish adults who make the 'safer' 
 choice."\n\n-Mark Stepnoski, five-time NFL Pro Bowler and two-time 
 Superbowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys\n\n\n"In a society too often 
 paralyzed by fear when it comes to finding smart solutions to our failed 
 drug war, Marijuana Is Safer offers a pragmatic way forward. The authors 
 offer a new and common sense approach to marijuana policy--one that is 
 motivated not by incarceration or punishment, but by reducing the overall 
 harm to our society."\n\n-Rick Steves, travel guidebook writer and TV and 
 radio host\n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/07/29/18613069.php
SUMMARY:Marijuana Is Safer book launch
LOCATION:WHAT: Launch Party and Book Signing for Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We 
 Driving People to Drink?\n\nWHO: Co-Authors Mason Tvert of SAFER and Paul 
 Armentano of NORML\n\nWHEN: Tuesday, August 4, 5-8 p.m., Author discussion 
 begins at 6 p.m.\n\nWHERE: Oaksterdam Student Union, 1915 Broadway, 
 Oakland, Just steps from the 19th St./Oakland BART Station 
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/07/29/18613069.php
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