S.
Conclusion:
Like alcohol and tobacco, marijuana has been consumed in human societies for thousands of years, and likely since before recorded history. Also like alcohol and tobacco products, marijuana is associated with certain dangers that warrant appropriate government paternalism in the form of legislation prohibiting its use by minors, regulating its manufacture and sale to ensure its relative safety and quality, and preventing the use of any substances capable of altering human perception in connection with the operation of motor vehicles. However, there is no logical basis whatsoever for distinguishing between alcohol and marijuana in terms of criminal legislation, and both substances are considerably less harmful to human health in the manner of their typical consumption than tobacco products.
Instead of subjecting marijuana users to criminal prosecution, government authorities should simply apply the same approach to marijuana as has been traditionally applied to alcohol and tobacco. The Prohibition era of American history documented the futility of criminalizing relatively harmless private "vices," particularly where criminal enterprises fill the void left by continuing demand in the face of governmental prohibition. Marijuana use is much more appropriately addressed by legalized production and sale pursuant to the same legislative and regulatory mechanisms currently applicable to alcohol and tobacco products in the United States.
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