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MARIJUANA PROHIBITION IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO PROSPERITY

If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal.  Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco.  Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents. 

Marijuana prohibition has failed miserably as a deterrent.  The U.S.  has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available to adults.  The only clear winners are drug cartels and shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who have built careers confusing the drug war's collateral damage with a relatively harmless plant. 

Robert Sharpe, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy