For $25,000, will Sarah Palin admit marijuana is safer than alcohol?

Today, in the heart of Sin City, former Alaska governor, Republican vice presidential candidate, Fox News “analyst” and the darling of the Tea Party set Sarah Palin delivered a keynote address to attendees of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America’s convention. Might this be a sign that Palin is prepared to take up the fight for individual freedoms espoused by Ron Paul and other libertarian-leaning leaders of the Tea Party movement?

One group in Nevada is testing this hypothesis by asking Palin to put her mouth where their money is. Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws (a ballot advocacy group backed by my organization, the Marijuana Policy Project) has offered to pay Palin $25,000 to give a similar speech to marijuana policy reformers. Such a speech would convey a simple message: If we can defend and even celebrate the individual freedom to use alcohol, we should certainly allow individuals the freedom to use marijuana, a substance objectively less harmful than alcohol.

The following quotes are from an advisory circulated by NSML:

“We see absolutely no reason why Ms. Palin would reject our offer,” said [NSML campaign manager Dave] Schwartz. “The health effects of the substance she is talking about at the WSWA convention causes 33,000 deaths in the U.S. annually. The comparable number for marijuana is zero. Alcohol is also associated with violent crime and other destructive acts, while marijuana is not. If Ms. Palin is comfortable endorsing that product, we are certain that she will endorse ours.

“Let me make one thing clear. In making this offer, we are not intending to attack the alcohol industry or alcohol users,” continued Schwartz. “We are merely highlighting the fact that marijuana is objectively less harmful than alcohol. It therefore makes no sense to keep marijuana in the criminal market, while a former vice presidential candidate celebrates the alcohol industry. We want legitimate businesspeople in Nevada to benefit from the sales of marijuana, and we want adults to be free to choose whichever substance they prefer – marijuana or alcohol – when they relax after work.”

I am sure there are many progressive readers of this blog who can think of nothing worse than having Sarah Palin associated with this cause (or any cause for that matter). That is not the point here. It is unlikely that Ms. Palin will endorse the use of marijuana. And it is probably less likely that she will accept a measly $25,000 for a speech.

But by making this offer, NSML has underscored for the nation to see, the blatant hypocrisy that exists among our nation’s leaders, who embrace the alcohol industry while supporting laws that make criminals out of adults who simply choose to use a less harmful substance — marijuana.