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.
jbacker@thepinelog.com
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