TOBACCO-RELATED HEALTH COSTS: $800; BOOZE-RELATED HEALTH COSTS: $165;
POT-RELATED HEALTH COSTS: $20 -- ANY QUESTIONS?

Writing in the book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People
to Drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009), I argue that it is irrational for
our society to condone, if not encourage, the use of alcohol -- an
intoxicant that directly contributes to tens of thousands of deaths
annually and countless social problems -- while simultaneously
stigmatizing and criminalizing the use of cannabis, a substance that
is incapable of causing lethal overdose and is associated with far
fewer societal costs. Well now a new study, authored by researchers
from the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia at the
University of Victoria and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse at
the University of Ottawa has directly compared the societal costs of
marijuana and alcohol, as well as tobacco, and the final tally isn't pretty.

Health-related costs per user are eight times higher for drinkers
than they are for those who use cannabis, and are more than 40 times
higher for tobacco smokers, according to the report, published in the
British Columbia Mental Health and Addictions Journal.

It states, "In terms of [health-related] costs per user:
tobacco-related health costs are over $800 per user, alcohol-related
health costs are much lower at $165 per user, and cannabis-related
health costs are the lowest at $20 per user."

The study further reported that "94 percent of social costs for
cannabis are linked to [law] enforcement." Hmm, perhaps that explains
why law enforcement consistently speak out against marijuana law
reform; pot prohibition equals job security.

The study concludes:

The harms, risks and social costs of alcohol, cannabis and tobacco
vary greatly. A lot has to do with how the substances are handled
legally. Alcohol and tobacco are legal substances, which explains
their low enforcement costs relative to cannabis. On the other hand,
the health costs per user of tobacco and alcohol are much higher than
for cannabis. This may indicate that cannabis use involves fewer
health risks than alcohol or tobacco.

These variations in risk, harms and cost need to be taken into
account as we think about further efforts to deal with the use of
these three substances. ... Efforts to reduce social costs related to
cannabis, for example, will likely involve shifting its legal status
by decriminalizing casual use, to reduce the high enforcement costs.
Such a shift may be warranted given the apparent lower health risk
associated with most cannabis use.

In other words: Do the math; end marijuana prohibition!