text: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
   
   Vermont may well become the next state to legalize marijuana, and two state lawmakers who support legalization have a simple message for their colleagues: Give us what we want, or we'll take away your booze. 
   
   A new bill filed earlier this month by state Reps. Jean O'Sullivan and Christopher Pearson would effectively reinstate alcohol prohibition in Vermont. If passed, House Bill 502 would outlaw consumption of alcohol, with penalties mirroring those currently in place for marijuana possession. Those found with small amounts of alcohol would be subject to fines of up to $500, and anyone involved in the sale and distribution stream could face up to 30 years in prison and $1 million in penalties. 
   
   O'Sullivan herself acknowledges that even she doesn't support the substance of the bill. Rather, "the object was to basically embarrass leadership to say that we have [marijuana legalization bills] in front of us, and they're going absolutely nowhere," she told The Huffington Post. 
   
   The lawmakers hope to give momentum to legalization in Vermont by raising awareness about the broad scientific consensus that marijuana is the least dangerous recreational drug on the market. A study published in February found that pot had the lowest risk of mortality when compared with nine other commonly used drugs, including alcohol and tobacco. 
   
   "We're certainly not going to ban alcohol, but when you say you'll let a drug like that be legalized and then you have a drug like marijuana that's far safer that's still banned, it's completely ironic," O'Sullivan said. 
   
   Another bill, H.277, sponsored by Pearson and O'Sullivan and currently in committee, proposes the legal sale and regulation of marijuana in Vermont. Senate Bill 95, which would also legalize the drug, was introduced earlier this year in the legislature's upper chamber. 
   
   A Rand Corporation study released this year estimates that Vermonters spent between $125 to $225 million a year on marijuana in 2014. The report projects that tax revenue from a legal marijuana market in the state could amount to between $20 million and $70 million annually. 
   
   O'Sullivan notes that taxing marijuana would go a long way to bridge the state's massive budget deficit. 
   
   "Consider it a gauntlet thrown down," O'Sullivan said of H.277. "When you're looking at a $113 million budget deficit, it looks really bloody attractive." 
   
   Beyond the financial incentives, evidence shows that there's something to the lawmakers' argument: Not a single person has ever been killed from a marijuana overdose. By contrast, around 88,000 Americans die each year due to excessive alcohol consumption, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ||||| Representatives Chris Pearson and Jean O’Sullivan introduced a bill this week to reinstate the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in Vermont, but they don’t want it to pass. 
   
   The bill, which would make possession of alcohol punishable by up to 30 years in prison and fines of $1 million, is the latest rhetorical flourish by lawmakers hoping to legalize marijuana in Vermont. 
   
   The legislation, according to the lawmakers, is based on “recent scientific studies that demonstrate that alcohol use is significantly more dangerous that marijuana use.” By their logic, if the less dangerous substance is illegal, then the more dangerous one should be outlawed as well. 
   
   In a release about the bill, Progressive Rep. Chris Pearson of Burlington cited statistics that show that alcohol is a factor in 40 percent of all violent crimes in the U.S., and there were more than 80,000 alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. in 2010. 
   
   “Marijuana, on the other hand, kills almost no one,” he said, acknowledging that driving under the influence of either marijuana or alcohol can increase risk. 
   
   Democrat Jean O’Sullivan of Burlington cosponsored the bill, but also doesn’t want to see it pass. 
   
   The bill has yet to see any action in the Statehouse.
target: – Two Vermont lawmakers fed up with delays to legalize marijuana in the state introduced a headline-grabbing measure this week designed to move things along: one that would outlaw alcohol. Legislators Chris Pearson and Jean O'Sullivan admit they have no interest in reinstating Prohibition, but they want to make a larger point, reports Vermont Public Radio. In their eyes, marijuana is safer than alcohol, so why ban that drug and leave the other untouched? "The object was to basically embarrass leadership to say that we have [marijuana legalization bills] in front of us, and they're going absolutely nowhere," O'Sullivan tells the Huffington Post. Their bill would make those found in possession of small amounts of alcohol subject to fines of up to $500, and anyone caught selling or distributing it faces 30 years in prison and $1 million in fines. (A drug that's been around a while shows promise as a substitute for medical marijuana, without the stoner side effects.)