In 2012 Colorado legalized marijuana, this step gave
marijuana advocates a new kind of ammunition; that of comparing marijuana to
alcohol. This claim prompted a duel challenge in between South Portland Police
Chief Edward Googins and David Boyer an official in the Marijuana Policy
Project. The idea of the duel is as follows; for every shot of alcohol Googins
would take, Boyer would take a toke of marijuana, the public would see which
one of the two better in condition at the end. The marijuana-alcohol duel was
not the first and will not be the last, for campaigners everywhere are now
basing their whole message on comparing the two substances. And since Colorado
has a stadium with a liquor brand name and a governor brews beer, the
comparison proved effective. In the long run this totally changed the drug
debate from bad-or-good argument to a better-than-alcohol one. President Obama
even said; “I don’t think (marijuana) is more dangerous than alcohol.”
The article by David Sirota exposes in a
serious tone the transition of perspective on the drug debate. Demonstrating
with quotes of debates how the arguments have shifted to a comparison with a
legal alcohol. Showing the reader of the online magazine how marijuana
advocates now have in their arsenal a powerful weapon. Which can be summed up
as; “If alcohol is legal why is cannabis not if it safer than alcohol?” and “Everyone
recognizes that alcohol prohibition was a huge failure,” Tvert says. “Our point
is that marijuana prohibition has been just as big of a disaster.” This new
perspective that marijuana advocates are getting across has the power, as
Sirota showed with Colorado, can tip the scale in cannabis` favor.
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