I've always wondered why alcohol and cigarettes are legal. In this age of protecting us from ourselves, these products don't seem to help society much. It's illegal to not wear a seat belt but not illegal to smoke a cigarette. Of course, alcohol and tobacco do have strong entrenched special interest groups that support their continued legalization with campaign donations. But what about cannabis? The wacky weed. Mary Jane. Is toking up worse than smoking? Or having a drink? New Scientist published a special report on cannabis. They don't take a side in the debate, they just want to get the facts straight. They also cite a The World Health Organization (WHO) report on cannabis -- the first in 15 years for the WHO.
According to a document leaked to New Scientist, the analysis concludes not only that the amount of dope smoked worldwide does less harm to public health than drink and cigarettes, but that the same is likely to hold true even if people consumed dope on the same scale as these legal substances.
Apparently those findings didn't fly with the U.S. and it helped get the report edited. They removed a section that compared marijuana to tobacco and alcohol. And the wacky weed didn't look so bad.