New Book on Marijuana vs.. Alcohol

Cover via Amazon

March 17, 2011

There have been a few disturbing things coming from the local news lately for the marijuana (cannabis) law reform community here in the United States. It is my opinion that the anti-marijuana groups of people are pushing back as hard as they feel the marijuana activists are pushing forward with at least 12 new states decreasing the illegality of the plant in some form in their legislature at this time. It stated that Greenwood County in South Carolina is trying to push through local legislature for the entire county a law that would make alcoholic drinks illegal. Yet another city is trying to make all smoking tobacco products anywhere, including in private homes and apartments, illegal. The prohibitionists are back in full force here in South Carolina where “blue laws” are already in effect prohibiting any purchase that is not food or prescription drug related illegal from 12:00 AM Sunday morning to 1:00 PM Sunday afternoon because of the lobbying groups of the churches to try to quell working on Sunday and people not going to church services in order to take care of their shopping needs because of working schedules or numerous other personal matters that could prohibit their shopping other times in the week. It is legislation of morality. In my years on this earth I have seen that legislating morality is costly and ineffective. In the case of the “blue laws” of South Carolina it is downright hindering of normal life for most people, yet the pockets of the church lobby run deep to keep it in force.

The arguments from the marijuana law reform community for the comparisons of already legal products such as tobacco and alcohol are a cornerstone to showing the anti-marijuana law reform groups that keeping the plant illegal under prohibition is not only very, very costly but also illogical considering the effects and consequences of the already legal products in comparison to the cannabis plant when used recreationally and as a medication. The arguments of the marijuana law reform activists are well founded in research and they are trying to get law makers and the public that doesn’t know these facts to lend them an ear while they compare the products that are legal yet more harmful to the user and those around the user than cannabis is in total. This issue of comparison of the harms of alcohol and its prohibition in comparison to cannabis and the current prohibition against it is dealt with in the new book, “Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People To Drink?” by Steve Fox, Paul Armentano, Mason Tvert. This comparison is used most frequently by marijuana activists for the legalization of the plant and this book deals with the facts of the two substances very well.