There has never been a death certificate that has listed Marijuana as a cause or contributed to a death (even car accidents because they can't pinpoint the time it was ingested). I worked for the Coroner and even the doctors who worked there said Marijuana was the least dangerous drug out there including caffine.
Bottom line is, if it hurts no one else why shouldn't the person decide on what he or she puts in their body? Isn't that what freedom is?

The tobacco companies will tell you there is no way to prove that anyone has died due to smoking cigarettes either. It only took America 40 years longer than it should have to figure that out.

Please give some links to those studies showing coffee is more dangerous than marijuana.

The fact that marijuana is smoked means that the user is inhaling (and holding) smoke in their lungs. Unless you are growing your own, you have no idea what pesticides (radioactive or not) are used to grow your weed. I trust Mexican drug cartels about as much as corporate tobacco growers with keeping my health as a priority.

If marijuana is so safe, why are there so many ER visits in the US every year. (One figure I found was over 240,000.) Are there stats for coffee related visits to the ER that don't involve burns?

TOBACCO = 340,000 to 450,000 deaths

ALCOHOL = 150,000+
(Not including 50% of all highway deaths and 65% of all murders)

ASPIRIN = 180 to 1,000+ (Including deliberate overdose)

CAFFEINE = 1,000 to 10,000 (From stress, ulcers, and triggering irregular heartbeats, etc.)

"LEGAL" DRUG OVERDOSE = 14,000 to 27,000 (Deliberate or accidental) from legal, prescribed or patent medicines and/or mixing with alcohol - e.g. Valium/alcohol

ILLICIT DRUG OVERDOSE = 3,800 to 5,200 (Deliberate or accidental) from all illegal drugs.

MARIJUANA = 0

SOURCE:
Cancer Study, UCLA; U.S. Funded ($6 million), First & Second Jamaican Studies, 1968 to 1974; Costa Rican Studies, 1980 to 1982; et al. LOWEST TOXICITY 100% of the studies done at dozens of American universities and research facilities show pot toxicity does not exist. Medical history does not record anyone dying from an overdose of marijuana. (UCLA, Harvard, Temple, etc.)

----

Caffeine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Withdrawl

Caffeine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Overuse and abuse

Caffeine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Caffeine intoxication

Caffeine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Sleep disorders

I don't know what the context is for those numbers. What do they represent?

Average annual deaths from 1968 - 1982 from the above listed substances -- statistics were gathered by a U.S. funded UCLA study on the effects of drugs.


Also:

Isn't this just another reason to legalize it? The same happened with tainted alcohol during it's prohibition.

Putting a patent on a weed is not simple, that's why they won't legalize it. But if the prohibition just plain didn't exist, people could grow their own. Cannabis grows as easily as tomatoes and can be harvested more frequently.

Thanks, I didn't know what the numbers meant. It's interesting that the death number is touted quite a bit, but I wonder what the ER visit rate is.

And in a way I think it is another reason to legalize it. Though, again, I trust the drug cartels of Mexico with my lung health as much as I trust the corporate tobacco growers.

Growing your own is legal to a certain degree here if you have a medical card. I would wonder if that would be legal if regulated legalized marijuana became a reality in the US.

This argument and the facts we're all laying out are actually outdated (on both sides of the argument).

California, Canada, and parts of Europe have great economies as a result of the hemp industry, and the marijuana industry.

The magnitude of marijuana use is so more wide spread that there is no possible way to regulate the international cannabis culture.


Truth is, Marijuana is America's #1 cash crop -- and it's about time to utilize it (especially in times of economic crisis)

A 2005 analysis by Harvard visiting professor Jeffrey Miron estimates that if the United States legalized marijuana, the country would save $7.7 billion in law enforcement costs and could generated as much as $6.2 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like alcohol or tobacco.


> Marijuana Called Top U.S. Cash Crop - ABC News

> Marijuana Production: Comparison with other Cash Crops





1938 Popular Mechanics article



It's the same in Alaska, but the medical card is not required.

This is not true.

Weed will kill you eventually. It's the same as tobacco, and will destroy your lungs.

Yes, there are other ways of using it, but they're not popular and not the reality.

Most people who smoke weed also smoke tobacco, and thus I imagine the cancer they die from is blamed on the tobacco. Even if you smoke weed without tobacco, you will eventually become sick.

Smoke is a free radical; it causes cancer.

Common sense is not prevailing on this thread. I'm done.

I just urge others, especially young ones, just stay in school and don't go out at night. Don't go and party and get wasted. It might seem fun at the time, but you'll regret that stupid stuff. Don't listen to these people trying to legalize things like this; they're seeking a personal agenda, and do not have the interests of everyone as a whole in mind.

This I can agree with.

I still take issue with the 100% harmless stance.

Not a direct cause of death does NOT mean totally harmless. There are tons of things in the world that may not directly kill you, but which are still not harmless. Death is certainly not the only definition of "harm".

If someone wants to bring up World of Warcraft as an example of something more harmful than marijuana, I have to shake my head. WOW certainly isn`t directly causing anyone`s death either - just like marijuana doesn`t. What killed the WOW players was not the game, but exhaustion. I am completely sure that no one has "World of Warcraft" or "video games" listed as their cause of death.

But that still doesn`t mean there isn`t a potential to be harmful to that person`s life.

I agree that there is no real reason for it to be illegal. I will never say it is harmless or that it is not at all addictive.