Marijuana Book Available Free Online On April 20

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Graphic: Chelsea Green Publishing

​It runs against the most basic business acumen to give your product away for free, but next week that is just what Chelsea Green Publishing is going to do.

On April 20, free downloads of Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People To Drink? are available all day on Scribd.com. Users will be able to download, print and share.
Paperback copies of the book will be available on the Chelsea Green website for a discounted price of $10.
April 20 is significant because over the years “420” has become a counterculture holiday, where the primary mode of celebration is smoking marijuana publicly.
Chelsea Green Publishing said the move is intended to raise awareness of marijuana’s relative safety when compared to alcohol in the face of California’s impending referendum for legalization in November.
In one of those oh-so-delicious twists of irony, April is also, coincidentally, National Alcohol Awareness month.
“This promotion is all about getting the message out there,” said Kate Rados, Chelsea Green’s director of digital initiatives. “Via our partners and web communities, we’ll be offering the free download to more than 200,000 people.”


Photo: Digital Book World
Kate Rados: “We’re poised to make a massive impact on people’s perceptions of marijuana”

​”Add to that the enormous reach of Scribd, and we’re poised to make a massive impact on people’s perception’s of marijuana,” Rados said.
Marijuana Is Safer, written by nationally recognized marijuana policy experts Steve Fox, Paul Armentano, and Mason Tvert, compares two of the most popular recreational substances in the world — marijuana and alcohol. The book asks why society punishes those who choose to engage in the activity which is relatively safer.
“We are excited about this special 4/20 event,” Fox said. “The reason we wrote this book is to educate the public about the relative harms of marijuana and alcohol.”
“One obstacle to achieving this goal, however, is getting the book in the hands of people who need that kind of education, but probably would not purchase the book on their own,” Fox said. “So we not only want people to download the book, we want them to send it to as many people as they can.”

Photo: NORML
Steve Fox, MPP: “We wrote this book to serve a purpose, not get rich”

​”It is not necessarily the best strategy for royalties,” Fox said, “but we wrote this book to serve a purpose, not to get rich.”
The book will be available for free download on Scribd.com from 12 a.m. EST on April 20 until 12 a.m. EST on April 21.
About The Book
 
In Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are Why Driving People To Drink?, nationally recognized marijuana-policy experts Steve Fox, Paul Armentano, and Mason Tvert compare and contrast the relative harms and legal status of the two most popular recreational substances in the world–marijuana and alcohol.
Through an objective examination of the two drugs and the laws and social practices that steer people toward alcohol, the authors pose a simple yet rarely considered question: Why do we punish adults who make the rational, safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol?
 
Marijuana Is Safer reaches for a broad audience. For those unfamiliar with marijuana, it provides an introduction to the cannabis plant and its effects on the user, and debunks some of the government’s most frequently cited marijuana myths.
For current and aspiring advocates of marijuana-law reform, as well as anyone else who is interested in what is becoming a major political battle, the authors spell out why the message that marijuana is safer than alcohol must be a prominent part of the public debate over legalization.
 
Most importantly, for the millions of Americans who want to advance the cause of marijuana-policy reform–or simply want to defend their own personal, safer choice–this book provides the talking points and detailed information needed to make persuasive arguments to friends, family, coworkers, and elected officials.
 
About The Authors
 
Paul Armentano is the deputy director of NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and the NORML Foundation. A recognized national expert in marijuana policy, health, and pharmacology, he has spoken at dozens of national conferences and legal seminars and has testified before state legislatures and federal agencies. He appears regularly as a guest on national television, including Fox News and MSNBC, and his work has appeared in over 500 publications. Armentano is the 2008 recipient of the Project Censored Real News Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism. He currently lives in California with his wife and son.
 
Mason Tvert is the cofounder and executive director of Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) and the SAFER Voter Education Fund. He appears frequently in the news and travels the country promoting the “Marijuana Is Safer Than Alcohol” message. He resides in Denver, where he serves on the city’s Marijuana Policy Review Panel appointed by Mayor John W. Hickenlooper.
 
Steve Fox is the Director of State Campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), the nation’s largest organization dedicated to reforming marijuana laws. From 2002-2005, he lobbied Congress as MPP’s Director of Government Relations. He cofounded Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) in 2005 and has helped guide its operations since its inception. He is a graduate of Tufts University and Boston College Law School and currently lives in Maryland with his wife and two daughters.
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