Marijuana is no more harmful to the individual than smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol; in fact, it may be significantly less harmful than cigarettes in terms of the frequency and manner in which users typically consume both substances. Whereas marijuana may be consumed irregularly or once in a while by many of its users, virtually everybody who smokes cigarettes does so on a daily basis, usually consuming ten or twenty cigarettes or more every day. In all likelihood, the average cigarette smoker is at much greater risk from smoking than the average marijuana smoker is.

In principle, government could justify prohibition of marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco uniformly and without distinction without necessarily violating any logical or moral concepts. Admittedly, ingesting any form of smoke into the lungs unnecessarily is medically harmful and unnecessary. Especially since the cost of medical insurance and un-reimbursed medical expenses from public resources is such a...
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