Marijuana is safer than alcohol

There appears to be a shift in the United
States in favor of relaxing marijuana
laws, a topic that has dipped in and out
of the national conversation for
decades. Public perceptions about pot
have come a long way, from the dire
warnings of "Reefer Madness" to
growing acceptance of medical
marijuana.



-- Anti-marijuana crusaders like Kevin Sabet,
while well-intentioned, are promoting policies that lead
to more violence and disease in our society. In his
recent CNN.com op-ed , Sabet argues we should keep
marijuana illegal. But as long as marijuana remains
illegal, profits from sales go to criminals and drug
cartels, and adults will continue to be punished for
using a substance less harmful than currently legal
drugs.
Confused? Let's back up. For more than 80 years, our
government has spent tens of billions of taxpayer
dollars fighting a war against marijuana. We arrest
three-quarters of a million adults every year, 87% for
simple possession rather than production or sales of
marijuana. Courtrooms turn into assembly lines
churning out probationers -- mostly minorities -- with
convictions that will make it virtually impossible to find
employment.
The result? Marijuana is universally available, used by
almost half of Americans at some point in their lives,
and we've enriched murderous drug cartels fueling
violence in Mexico that has claimed more than 60,000
lives.
Of course, we've been down this road
before. During alcohol prohibition in the
1930s, federal agents raided speakeasies
and busted barrels of illegally produced
and imported booze. Meanwhile,
bootleggers made money hand over fist,
empowering criminals like Al Capone to
turn Chicago into an urban war zone. And
much like with marijuana today, even
under alcohol prohibition most Americans
who wanted a drink had no problem finding one.
Today, marijuana prohibition has proven itself just as
disastrous a public policy failure as alcohol prohibition
before it. Yet despite all the obvious similarities between
the two, there's one key difference: Marijuana is
dramatically safer than alcohol.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, excessive
alcohol use is the third leading lifestyle-related cause of
death . In a typical year, there are roughly 25,000
alcohol-induced deaths in the United States, most from
long-term consequences like liver disease and some
from acute alcohol poisoning brought on by binge
drinking.
Marijuana, on the other hand, does not cause overdose
deaths and comes with far fewer long-term health
consequences. A 2009 Canadian study determined the
annual health-related costs associated with alcohol are
more than eight times greater per user than with
marijuana. And, according to the Institute of Medicine,
people who use marijuana are far less likely to become
dependent than those who drink alcohol.
Even if you don't drink, alcohol can kill
you. Federal agencies report that 40% of
violent crimes in the U.S. are linked to
alcohol use, whereas those same agencies
report that marijuana users usually do not
commit violent crimes. Alcohol plays a
role in a third of all emergency room
visits. As a prosecuting attorney, I often
had police confess to me how much they
loathed arresting drunks, given how often
the situation escalated to violence. I never
fielded similar complaints about marijuana
consumers.
The irony is that these perverse policies
are cheered on by organizations with
names like "Save Our Society" that seem
to believe chaos will somehow ensue if adults are no
longer punished for using marijuana. The reality is that
by punishing adults who would rather use marijuana,
we're encouraging them to instead use alcohol -- a
more dangerous and harmful, but legal, drug. Public
policy should be geared toward reducing violence and
disease, not maximizing them.
There is a better way. Polling shows a majority of
Americans want marijuana taxed and regulated . A
growing number of states are bucking our federal
government's policy of absolute marijuana prohibition,
and the Department of Justice recently signaled it will
not challenge state laws that regulate the cultivation
and sale of marijuana.
By doing so, we can take marijuana away from
criminals and cartels and put it in the hands of licensed
businesses. Obviously, those businesses should be
subject to sensible rules ranging from where and when
they can operate and who is able to invest in them, to
restrictions on advertising.
Don't believe it could work? In 2009, Colorado's
medical marijuana industry exploded, prompting the
state to put in place the kinds of regulations I've just
outlined. According to CDC data on youth drug use,
from 2009 to 2011 -- a time when youth marijuana use
increased nationally -- the percentage of Colorado teens
using marijuana dropped more than any other state in
the country and is now below the national average.
Marijuana is safer than alcohol; let's treat it that way.
Adults who would prefer to use marijuana instead of
alcohol should be free to do so. Just as significant, the
law enforcement resources spent making those three-
quarters of a million arrests could instead be devoted to
preventing and solving real crimes.
In other words, regulating marijuana would make
America a safer, healthier nation.