cannabisnews.com: SAFER Mobilizes CSU Students





SAFER Mobilizes CSU Students
Posted by CN Staff on March 03, 2006 at 08:13:33 PT
By Vimal Patel
Source: Rocky Mountain Collegian
Colorado -- Mason Tvert on Thursday night was back at CSU, one of the universities where his crusade to legalize pot began.But this time, the executive director of the pro-pot legalization SAFER (Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation) returned with a little more name recognition and credibility. The last time Tvert was at CSU, last fall, SAFER was just one of the numerous, easily dismissed pro-pot legalization groups nationwide.
But as Tvert strode into the Lory Student Center's Virginia Dale room Thursday night, he had I-100 - a city ordinance that legalized pot in Denver and made international headlines - under his belt.Not to a mention a room full of about 35 students and community members eager to collect the nearly 68,000 signatures needed to place the Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative on November's ballot."This is definitely a grassroots effort," Tvert told the pot-legalization troops. "We think this is very possible...The hardest part is getting it on the ballot."The event was sponsored by the newly formed CSU chapter of the Libertarian Party, which advocates limited government."It should be your choice what you put into your body as long as you don't hurt anyone else," said Seth Anthony, chair of the group.The proposed measure would legalize small amounts of pot for adults statewide. It would allow individual cities to determine pot's legality. Some cities, including Fort Collins, have no such city ordinances and are guided by state law.So if a statewide measure passes, the only way Fort Collins citizens 21 or older could be prosecuted for recreational use of small amounts of pot is by federal law, and it's extremely rare for the federal government to intervene in minor pot cases.Tvert's visit focused mostly on the nuts and bolts of grassroots signature collecting - "use pens, not pencils," make sure writing is legible, don't use ditto marks in the date, and never take the petitions apart."If you take the staples out of the petitions, it's done," Tvert said. "They're going to contest us at every turn."Tvert and SAFER have almost robotically repeated the message that alcohol is a far more dangerous drug than marijuana, and therefore it's illogical and fundamentally unfair to keep the plant illegal while tolerating the drink.The executive director explained his group's rationale for hammering that message while acknowledging that other valid arguments exist for pot legalization, including saving taxpayer money by unclogging the criminal justice system."Many people don't know marijuana is less harmful than alcohol," he said. "We need to convince them why they should agree with us...That is why we stick to this message."Brooke Malcolm, a business marketing senior trying to get a Students for Sensible Drug Policy chapter at CSU up and running, said she's going to be very active in the SAFER campaign."I agree with Mason's idea that that's the best way to start the campaign," she said about Tvert's framing of the alcohol vs. marijuana debate.Gene Freeland, chair of the Larimer County Libertarian Party, said that Democrats and Republicans both want their personal freedom, but want to regulate others.'"We're in favor of anything that gives people ownership back of their own body," he said, expressing support for the proposed statewide ballot measure.Tvert - who on Saturday is scheduled to be at the Cheba Hut on Laurel at 4:20 p.m. - said that no matter what side of the debate one falls on, people like hearing about pot and other controversial topics."We do more Fox News gigs than anywhere else," Tvert said of the populist cable news network many accuse of being conservative. "People want to hear about it. That's what sells news: pissing people off."So whatever the outcome of the proposed measure, the more attention it gets, the better off the long-term pot-legalization movement is, he added."All we need to do is put this thing on the ballot," Tvert said. "Even if it fails, we will get our message across."Source: Rocky Mountain Collegian, The (CO Edu)Author: Vimal PatelPublished: March 03, 2006Copyright: 2006 Rocky Mountain CollegianWebsite: http://www.collegian.com/Contact: editor lamar.colostate.eduRelated Articles & Web Site:Safer Coloradohttp://www.safercolorado.org/ SAFER Pushing To Legalize Marijuana Statewidehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21638.shtmlPot Advocates Push Statewide Legalizationhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21462.shtmlState Initiative Next Step for Marijuana Backershttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21421.shtml 
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Comment #7 posted by Hope on March 04, 2006 at 08:36:48 PT
Runruffswife
Oh, my Lord. That's devastating. Devestating. They're torturing our friend, and your gentle husband, to "acclimate" him to their pens and cages. Oh...I can't bear it. They're making us pay for doing this to our friend, too. I just can't bear the thought. We're helpless, it seems to me, against the gargantuan monster that feeds off people like our dear Runruff. It's so wrong. Why can't they see how wrong it is? How has anyone got the gall to participate in such inhumanity? I just don't understand how they can. I don't understand it. He grew medicine for sick people! A plant! Prohibitionists are poisonous snakes. Vipers! They creep about and lie about in wait to strike out at their innocent victims. We can never cease trying to stop them, until they are stopped completely.Monsters. They're monsters.They want to break him and his beautiful spirit. They can't, I know, but I wish he would pretend they had so they would ease off on him. Runruffswife, I can only imagine how hard it was for you to write that. It's devastating just to read it. Devestating.
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Comment #6 posted by OverwhelmSam on March 04, 2006 at 04:21:11 PT
Tvet Is My Hero
Yes. The message is getting out that marijuana is safer than alcohol. Thank you Tvert.Now, we just need some new representatives in Congress in 2006. Drug Policy Alliance published a list of representatives wha are drug warriors, they should not be re-elected at all costs.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on March 03, 2006 at 19:19:49 PT
runruffswife 
I am sorry. I know this must have been very hard to write. He is a free spirit and free spirits aren't allowed in our society. That is really the way it is and it's oh so wrong.
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Comment #4 posted by runruffswife on March 03, 2006 at 19:07:26 PT:
RunRuff, True Story, This is hard to write.
RunRuff/Jerry just called me.
He asked me to tell you about his first 12 days under the care of the Federal Government at Devens Federal Medical Center.
When he first arrived they put him in Solitary Confinement. He didn't eat and they pulled him out and questioned him. He said he just wasn't hungry. They said, if you don't eat you're going in the Hole and could do 60 days in Solitary. He didn't eat. They put him in the cement Hole with NOTHING but a blanket. No toilet, no bed, no window, no water. They threatened to force feed him with a tube down his throat. He still didn't eat. They pulled him out and sent him to the psychiatrist, she asked him why he won't eat and he said "some species can't survive in captivity." They put him back in the hole where on the thirteenth day he ate and they put him in open unit.The Federal Government is treating my husband like a diseased animal because he is a free-spirit and he grew cannabis plants.Hope, remember when they said "some inmates take longer to acclimate than others." Are You Fed Up Yet? 
http://www.terryhubbard.com/J/
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Comment #3 posted by mayan on March 03, 2006 at 18:27:27 PT
No Margin For Error
"If you take the staples out of the petitions, it's done," Tvert said. "They're going to contest us at every turn."Yes, the fascists within the system have been screwing us on technicalities for decades. We can't give them any excuse to contest our legal actions. Campus by campus,city by city,state by state, WE WILL WIN!!! Tvert is just what this movement needs! THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...Judicial Watch Files Lawsuit Against Defense Department for Withholding Video of 9/11 Attack on Pentagon: DOD has "no legal basis" to refuse release of videotape:
http://www.judicialwatch.org/5724.shtmlExperts Call for Release of 9/11 Evidence: 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20060301/bs_prweb/prweb352979_1FBI WHISTLEBLOWER SIBEL EDMONDS IS READY TO TALK!
http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002496.htm
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Comment #2 posted by TroutMask on March 03, 2006 at 10:06:05 PT
Win/Win
"All we need to do is put this thing on the ballot," Tvert said. "Even if it fails, we will get our message across."Indeed, we get our message across just by *trying* to get this on the ballot.-TM
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 03, 2006 at 08:55:59 PT
Marijuana and The Law are DU Topic Tuesday
http://www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060303/NEWS01/603030311/1002/NEWS01
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