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