MPP-NV $10,000 challenge draws widespread attention
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Hello, Nevadans! The Marijuana Policy Project of Nevada has arrived!
Actually, we have been here for a number of months, getting set up and reaching out to people throughout the state. But now we have officially arrived.
Yesterday, we issued a $10,000 challenge to the people of Nevada. In order to claim the reward, an individual would have to prove we are wrong when we say that marijuana is safer than alcohol. Specifically, someone would have to provide studies or statistics to disprove the following three statements:
- Alcohol is significantly more toxic than marijuana, making death by overdose far more likely with alcohol.
- The health effects from long-term alcohol consumption cause tens of thousands more deaths in the U.S. annually than the health effects from long-term marijuana consumption.
- Violent crime committed by individuals intoxicated by alcohol is far more prevalent in the U.S. than violent crime committed by individuals intoxicated by marijuana only.
As I said yesterday, we are not at all worried about paying out this reward. The facts we have put forth are true and evidence to contradict them simply doesn’t exist. What we were really hoping for was some media attention to help raise awareness about the relative harms of marijuana and alcohol. And media attention is what we got.
Both the CBS and ABC affiliates in Las Vegas aired reports of the challenge on their 4:30 p.m. newscasts, Jon Ralston posted a piece on the Las Vegas Sun Web site this morning, and I participated in radio interviews for stations in Las Vegas and Reno.
This is just a start for us. We will continue to educate the public about the relative harms of marijuana and alcohol, as well as the absurdity of having laws that punish people for using the less harmful of the two substances.
We look forward to keeping you updated about our progress. If you are interested in being a part of this public education campaign, please visit our Web site at www.mppnv.org.
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