The difference between a pointer and a laser is that we move the beam at such a speed, that it could be safer, if you know what you are doing of course.
Also in a pointer there are no safeguards in place as we use to minimize problems.
For example, a scanfail, which turns off the laser output when the scanners fail (within a millisecond), we can control the intensity of a beam/atmospheric in a specific area. we can also define area's so no laser can ever reach the audience.
These are just a few examples of the big differences there are. We don't use DMX lasers which also have almost no safeguards, we use computer controlled lasers.