SAFER Press Conference at Site of the Ricky Williams Billboard

Please join us at this press conference! Just one day after SAFER unveiled a billboard urging Ricky Williams to come play in Denver because marijuana has been made legal here, NFL rushing leader Travis Henry of the Denver Broncos has tested positive for marijuana. Initial reports say he faces up to a one-year suspension. SAFER is demanding the NFL refrain from punishing the star running back. SAFER ran the successful ballot initiative in Denver in 2005, which made the city the first in the nation to remove all penalties for adult marijuana use. The organization will demand that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell refrain from punishing Travis Henry simply for using marijuana, a drug that is undeniably less harmful than alcohol. "NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is probably sitting down to a glass of Chardonnay and telling his wife how he is going to punish Travis Henry for using marijuana," said SAFER Executive Director Mason Tvert. "This NFL policy reeks of hypocrisy, and it is steering these world-class athletes away from using marijuana and toward using alcohol, a far more harmful drug. "The NFL is clearly in the pockets of the alcohol industry," Tvert said. "Roger Goodell should explain why it is okay for him and NFL players to use alcohol, but unacceptable to use a less harmful drug. "This Sunday, people will line up during the Broncos' game at Invesco Field to pay $10 for a beer, and that's not a problem for Mr. Goodell," Tvert said. "Budweiser and Bud Light face off at half-time of the Super Bowl, and that's not a problem for Mr. Goodell. Coors is the 'Official Beer of the NFL,' and that's not a problem for Mr. Goodell. Yet when an NFL player simply uses marijuana, a drug that is undoubtedly less harmful than alcohol to both the user and to society, Mr. Goodell punishes them. It does not get any more hypocritical than this." SAFER put up a billboard directly across the street from Invesco Field at Mile High that reads, "Ricky, come to Denver...Where the people support your SAFER choice." Williams filed for NFL reinstatement Monday after serving an 18-month suspension. He is now awaiting approval from the league and seeking a team to join for the remainder of the season. SAFER was behind the ballot initiative in 2005, and campaigned on the fact that marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol to both the user and to society. A majority of Denver voters agreed and adopted the measure so that adults could legally make the safer choice to use marijuana, if that is what they prefer. Every objective study on adult marijuana use has concluded that it poses far less potential harm than alcohol use. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that alcohol use contributes to tens of thousands of American deaths each year, whereas there are no marijuana-induced deaths, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has found that marijuana is far less addictive than alcohol and tobacco. Studies also show that alcohol is a contributing factor in countless cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, date rape, and other violent crimes, whereas marijuana has never been linked to such violent or aggressive behavior (it has actually been found to inhibit it).