Pubdate: Mon, 08 Jul 2013
Source: Ravalli Republic (Hamilton, MT)
Copyright: 2013 Ravalli Republic
Contact:  http://www.ravallirepublic.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3254
Author: John Russell

LET'S COMPARE DEATH RATES

I recently spent an hour visiting several Websites. I was seeking 
figures relating to death rates in the United States from several 
causes. I learned the following:

Tobacco use in this country kills 443,000 Americans per year. (Close 
to one every minute.)

Alcohol kills 85,000 Americans. (More than 10 per hour.)

Guns take 32,000 American lives. (Eighty-eight people every day.)

What about deaths from marijuana? The annual total is zero. None.

Let's place these numbers into a state-oriented perspective. We can 
say that guns, tobacco and alcohol destroy the equivalent of 
Montana's entire population every 21 months or so.

Marijuana kills not one single Montanan.

Isn't it remarkable that only one of the foregoing elements is 
illegal in most states, including Montana?

John Russell, Missoula
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom