Do smokers of Marijuana deserve to be sharing a prison cell with rapists? One of them terrorized another human being, and the other wanted to take the edge off. Is getting high as detrimental to society as drunk driving? As of me writing this, there have been no documented deaths related to overdose of marijuana.
In contrast, marijuana has been found to actually have many medical benefits, unlike many other legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol. Medical marijuana is legal in many areas of the country, and can change people's lives as seen in this video below.
One reality in our country today that likely isn't changing in the near future is that people will smoke marijuana whether it is legal or not. 43% of adults reported that they have tried it, and 13% said they smoke on a regular basis. With marijuana being unregulated and sold "on the streets" in a black market, consumers are never 100% sure what they are getting. There is always a the danger that the marijuana was laced with another drug among other dangers that come along with buying drugs off the streets. Legalizing and regulating marijuana would erase all of the dangers that come along with the purchase and consumption of a product that about 1 in every 7 Americans use. Not to mention, legalizing the production and sale of marijuana will create jobs.
Opposers often refer to marijuana as "the gateway drug." However, this is more of a stigma that has formed around the drug. Marijuana is not addictive, and many think it is considered a gateway drug because it is bought on the streets similarily to other far more harmful drugs such as cocaine and heroin. In reality, far more dangerous and addictive drugs can be found in local pharmacies.