[420 Girl]

Students on the Iowa State campus said Thursday that this is no joke -- they want the university to ease penalties on marijuana use.

A handful of students, affiliated with the group SAFER, rallied outside Parks Library Thursday afternoon promoting marijuana as a safer drug than alcohol. SAFER stands for Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation.

Holding signs that stated "Stop Driving Us To Drink," students said campaigns to get students to drink responsibly are not working. They point to the violence and negative side effects associated with alcohol on a college campus, such as binge drinking, sexual assaults and alcohol poisoning.

Aaron Schoeneman, a freshman at Iowa State who helped organize the rally, said that makes marijuana a safer alternative.

"That's just not something that would happen with marijuana. And it's just, alcohol is such an unsafe drug, that we really should have a safer and rational choice," said Schoeneman.

Students recognize that marijuana is an illegal drug, but hope their message will help change that, if not ease some of the penalties for students if caught with marijuana on campus.

The students said they plan to deliver a copy of the "Emerald Initiative" and a copy of the book "Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People To Drink?" to ISU President Gregory Geoffroy's office today.

The rally is one of 80 similar rallies held on college campuses across the country.

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